Gas dispute: RIL lawyer cross-examines former NTPC employee
Harish Salve questioned former NTPC staffer Anil Agarwal who was instrumental in drafting the provisions of the gas-supply contract
Mumbai: A Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) lawyer on Thursday cross-examined a former employee of NTPC Ltd in the Bombay high court in connection with a dispute over supply of gas by the former to the latter.
Harish Salve, senior counsel representing RIL, questioned Anil Agarwal, former deputy general manager of NTPC, who was instrumental in drafting the provisions of the gas-supply contract between the two in 2004.
The lawsuit between NTPC and RIL dates back to December 2005, with the point of contention being the existence of a contract between them and its terms.
NTPC claims there is a contract in which RIL promised to supply 12 mcmd (million cu. m a day) of gas for the expansion of the Kawas and Gandhar plants for 17 years at $2.34 per mmBtu. RIL says there’s no such contract.
NTPC will also cross examine two RIL witnesses once Agarwal’s questioning is over. The Bombay high court will then hear the arguments of both NTPC and RIL before it passes a final order in the case.
The Supreme Court had decided in May 2010 that Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL), a part of the Reliance Group led by Mukesh Ambani’s brother Anil Ambani, would not get access to gas from fields being developed by RIL at a discount. While RNRL was seeking gas at the same price as NTPC, the state-owned utility’s executives have maintained that the case in the high court was different from the one RIL and RNRL fought in the apex court.
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