New Delhi: The cabinet yesterday deferred its decision on revising domestic natural gas prices by another 45 days from its earlier month-end deadline, till November 15, Law and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The government in June had previously deferred a decision on the issue till September 30 for holding wider consultations.
It was reported earlier yesterday that with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yet to be discharged from hospital on the day scheduled for holding cabinet meetings, it appeared unlikely the government would meet its month-end deadline for announcing the new price for domestic gas.
This is because Prime Minster Narendra Modi is slated to leave for the US today.
The finance minister’s presence was essential for the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, while a source from the ministry said that Jaitley was still in hospital.
The four-member Committee of Secretaries (CoS) set up by the government to review the gas-pricing formula has submitted its report to the petroleum ministry.
The government last month constituted a committee comprising the secretaries of power, fertilizer and expenditure with Rajive Kumar, additional secretary in the petroleum ministry, as its member secretary. The committee has held discussions with representatives of both gas producers and consumers on the issue.
September 30 is the deadline for announcing the new gas price.
A final decision on pricing, however, could be further delayed due to assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana next month, the official said.
The committee’s brief is to examine the whole range of issues related to gas pricing, including the Rangarajan Committee formula, which was approved by the previous UPA government but could not be implemented as the Election Commission barred price announcement in the period leading up to general elections.
A new price based on the Rangarajan Committee formula would have most likely doubled the gas price to $8.4 per unit from April 1. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on June 25 decided to defer implementation of the Rangarajan formula till Sep 30 and come up with a new regime by October 1.
The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) and its partners, British oil giant BP and Niko Resources, have served an arbitration notice on the government on revising their gas price, which expired March 31.
IANS
