RIL shortchanged Centre: auditor

The CAG has said Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd denied the Centre its share in Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna-Godavari (KG D6) gas block. HT reports.

The CAG has said Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd denied the Centre its share in Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna-Godavari (KG D6) gas block.

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In a report tabled in Parliament on Thursday, the auditor said under the terms of the pact the firm signed with the government, RIL should have handed over 25% of the total area outside the one where discoveries were made in KG D6 to the government.

Oil sector regulator directorate general of hydrocarbons (DGH), however, allowed RIL to retain the entire 7,645 sq km of the KG D6 block flouting the production-sharing contract that defines the terms and conditions for exploring oil and gas, the CAG said in the report.

RIL denied wrongdoing, saying it had complied with all contract provisions. “We had already provided to the ministry, DGH and CAG our detailed comments along with the views of international experts on such parts of the draft report that had been communicated to us,” it said. Video