Anil Ambani Group agrees to gas marketing margin under protest

New Delhi, Oct 9 : The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has agreed to pay under protest a marketing margin to Reliance Industries for the gas supplied from the Krishna-Godavari basin, over and above the price formulae of the government.

In a letter to the oil ministry, the group has queried if the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries was entitled to charge the margin, as neither the company has undertaken such an exercise nor has the government's price formulae enabled such a provision.

"The levy of marketing margin by Reliance Industries is, therefore, unauthorised and nothing but abuse of monopolistic position," said the letter, adding: "We, however, will in the meantime pay the marketing margin levied by Reliance Industries under protest."

Simultaneously, the group has also written to Reliance Industries asking it to withdraw its suspension notice for gas, as the marketing margin had already been en-cashed. The group wanted supplies to resume immediately.

These supplies pertain to that part of gas production from the Krishna-Godavari fields which is over and above the 28 million units a day at $2.34 per unit for 17 years over which a bitter legal battle is being fought by the two groups.

The Supreme Court is slated to hear the case Oct 20.

The Anil Ambani group was earlier paying $0.135 per unit as marketing margin to Reliance Industries but had stopped it Sep 15, terming such a levy unauthorised, unwarranted and illegal. Thereafter, Reliance Industries issued a suspension notice Sep 28.

--IANS