Election Commission delays Mukesh’s dream price for gas

New Delhi: In a step that could provide relief to consumers and delay revision of natural gas prices, the Election Commission of India has asked the Union petroleum ministry to defer notification of new gas price till general elections are completed.

The notification, proposed to revise rates from April 1, was set to double price of the fuel produced by companies such as Reliance Industries. The new pricing regime proposed hike in rates were to rise to $8.3 next month from current $4.2 per million British thermal units.

The Commission’s move came soon after the Aam Aadmi Party sought the Commission’s intervention in stalling the gas price hike from April 1 alleging that it was taken to favour RIL. In fact, during his brief tenure as Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal had ordered an FIR against oil minister M. Veerappa Moily, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and others for allegedly conspiring to double gas prices.

Mr Kejriwal had in a letter to the Election Commission termed the gas price hike as violation of the Model Code of Conduct and alleged that the decision was aimed at providing windfall gains to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.

Petroleum minister M. Veerappa Moily had earlier made it clear that the government will not go back on its decision to hike rates from April 1. The government had claimed that the decision to raise gas prices for both public sector and private producers had got an approval of the Union Cabinet.

Though the decision to revise gas prices from April 1, 2014 was first taken in June 2013 and notified on January 10 this year, the oil ministry had approached the poll panel for its permission to announce the new price.
The EC this evening wrote to the oil secretary Saurabh Chandra saying since the matter was sub judice in the Supreme Court, a decision on revision in gas prices may be deferred.

“After taking into account all relevant facts, including the fact that the matter is sub-judice in the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the Commission has decided that the proposal may be deferred,” the poll panel wrote to the oil secretary.

The oil ministry had on March 13 approached the Election Commission for its approval to announce near doubling of natural gas prices to $8-$8.3 per mmBtu from next month.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had first in June 2013 and then in December last year decided to price all domestically produced gas by both public and private sector firms at an average price of LNG imports into India and benchmark global gas rates from April 1.

The price to be applicable from April 1 was to be announced sometime this week.