A Mukesh Ambani company Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd (RGTIL) has asked the Government to give clear indications on gas availability for it to lay cross-country pipelines.
The company has written to the Government seeking clarifications on when the proposed LNG terminals in the East Coast to import gas will be ready.
The company is confident of laying the pipelines a month before the commissioning of the terminals, sources privy to the development said.
Recently, the Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) had asked the Government to cancel the licence granted to RGTIL for going slow on laying four cross-country pipelines. The pipeline networks were to run from the East Coast to South and also connect the East Coast with Haldia. Authorisation for Haldia-Jagdishpur pipeline to be laid by GAIL (India) Ltd may also get affected.
According to sources, the Petroleum Ministry is likely to question RGTIL on the same instead of PNGRB, as the authorisation was given to the entity before the board had become functional.
Relogistics Infrastructure Ltd, a subsidiary RGTIL, in 2007-08, was authorised to lay the following pipelines: Kakinada-Haldia; Kakinada-Chennai; Chennai-Bangalore-Mangalore; and Chennai-Tuticorin. The total stretch of the network was over 2,000 km.
Last month, at a meeting convened by the Petroleum Ministry, RGTIL was asked to give bank guarantee for the delay. The company sought three weeks’ time from the Ministry to furnish the guarantee.
The delay in furnishing the guarantee was because Relogistics had since been merged with the parent company.
RGTIL has been raising the issue of gas availability for sometime now, according to sources.
The company has been arguing that since gas was not available, it had not gone ahead with physical work. In fact, the company has been talking to players like Indian Oil Corporation and Petronet LNG who are planning/building LNG terminals in the East Coast.
According to the authorisation, the pipelines had to be laid in three years from the date of approvals granted.
The pipelines were to be completed within 36 months of the notification of expression of interest or 24 months from the date of 100 per cent availability of right of user (RoU), whichever is later. The deadlines expire between June and August for all the pipelines.
RGTIL, at present, operates the East-West Pipeline that flow gas from Reliance Industries-operated D6 gas fields at the East Coast (Kakinada) to West (Bharuch) of the country. Mr Ambani has appointed bankers JP Morgan, Citigroup and SBI Caps to sell stake in RGTIL. Showing interest were almost 11 companies, including about six foreign companies.