The petroleum ministry has sought expansion of the legal team that is to argue the government's stand on the gas dispute between the Ambani brothers before the Supreme Court beginning next week.
Tata was ranked second only to former president APJ Abdul Kalam in the list of 100 most trusted individuals in India.
Had the government intervened at the right time, the controversy over an MoU that provides for dividing a national resource, would not have arisen, he said.
Deora is believed to have explained the oil ministry's position on gas pricing and utilisation.
The Samajwadi Party members stormed the well dissatisfied over the government's response to their demand for gas allocation to Anil Ambani-promoted Dadri power plant in Uttar Pradesh from the Mukesh Ambani-led RIL's D-6 gas field in the Krishna-Godavari basin.
Investors of the Ambani brothers group companies grew wealthier by a cumulative Rs 18,000 crore (Rs 180 billion) in a single day, driven by the massive spurt in the stocks of RIL and ADA Group companies following their decision to smoke the peace pipe by terminating all the non-compete agreements effected in January 2006.
The Indian bourses on Monday pared all its gains and slipped into the red towards the end of the trading session owing to weakness in the metal and realty stocks.
The apex court also heard a plea for bringing back black money stashed in tax havens abroad.
Amid a continuing legal battle between the Ambani brothers over gas supply, the elder of the two, Mukesh Ambani, is believed to have met Law Minister Veerappa Moily.
Even four years after splitting the Reliance empire, the Ambani brothers still seem to be washing dirty linen in public: the latest battle is over gas pricing.
Amidst the legal battle between Reliance Industries Ltd and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd over gas from Kaveri basin, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has hit out at the Ambani brothers for fighting over a natural resource that belongs to the government and the people of the country.
RNRL had sought 28 mscmd of gas for 17 years at $2.34 per million British thermal units (mBtu) from Mukesh Ambani's RIL.
RIL said RNRL has maintained that the May 12, 2005 draft agreement between the RIL and NTPC should be the basis for fixing the price of gas from the KG Basin but it has ignored the provision for government approval.
In what could seal the fortunes of the gas and power businesses of the two Ambani brothers, the Supreme Court is to deliver a judgment tomorrow on the bitterly fought dispute over gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin's D6 block.
With the Supreme Court likely to announce its judgement on the gas price tussle between Ambani brothers next week, the share price of Reliance Industries Ltd has taken a sharp knock while Reliance Natural Resources Ltd witnessed a spike.
Anil Ambani promoted Reliance Natural Resources icked off the second round of the battle today by filing a special leave petition in the Supreme Court, which prompted Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries to file a caveat in the apex court.
In a new twist in the gas row between the Ambani brothers in the Supreme Court, the Anil Ambani-led RNRL on Thursday sought cross-examination of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, accusing the Government of siding with the Mukesh Ambani's group RIL.
With the Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) planning to approach the Supreme Court, challenging a High Court order for selling gas at $2.34 per million British thermal unit (mBtu) to Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL), the chances of an agreement between the Ambani brothers by July 15 appear remote.
Anil's group is seeking gas from his brother's group RIL at rates 44 per cent lower government-approved price.
Bids were received for only 36 of the 70 blocks that were on offer.
The long-drawn dispute between the two Ambani brothers took another turn on Sunday, with both Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani saying all disagreements can be sorted in a cordial and conciliatory manner.
The global economic meltdown and the gas dispute between the Ambani brothers may trip India's largest ever auction of oil and gas blocks as the two factors are likely to keep major foreign firms from bidding, the sector regulator feels.
Anil Ambani group firm RNRL first filed a case against RIL in Bombay high court in November 2006, alleging violation of a family pact about supply of gas from elder brother Mukesh led RIL's Krishna-Godavari gas fields. Since the financial year 2006-07, RNRL's legal and professional fees have surged nearly five-fold from Rs 3.12 crore (Rs 31.2 million) to Rs 15.27 crore (Rs 152.7 million) in the latest fiscal 2008-09.
Amidst the ongoing war of words between the Ambani brothers over the issue of pricing of gas, Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Industries Ltd, on Tuesday met TKA Nair, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, at the latter's office in the South Block.
The most marked development of the year was the Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) Satyam financial scam, disclosed by the founder B Ramalinga Raju, forcing the government to redraft rules for corporate governance and auditing standards.
They have lost more than $13 billion from their combined wealth, but still the two Ambani brothers have moved higher on Forbes' latest list of the world's ten richest CEOs, while Sunil Mittal has joined the league and Lakshmi Mittal has slipped two places.
The hospital boasts of machines offering latest technology, rooms double the size of those offered in other parts of the country, and so on.
Reliance Industries (RIL), India's largest company by market capitalisation, will begin producing gas from its Krishna- Godavari (KG) field, which is off the country's east coast, "by December" this year, a senior executive said.
The gas row between the Ambani brothers had its echo in the Lok Sabha on Thursday with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav making a strong plea for gas from Reliance at cheaper rates for state-owned NTPC, a plea also being used by the Anil Ambani group.
In a new twist to the gas dispute between Ambani brothers, the fertiliser ministry on Monday said private family agreements cannot over-ride national priorities.
Following the heated exchanges, the bench rose early for the day, to resume the hearing on Tuesday. The schedule of hearing was changed and according to the current estimate, it will end by mid-December, just before the year-end holidays.
Stumbling blocks for resolving the gas row between the Ambani brothers can be removed by putting together the family MoU and the demerger scheme, Anil Ambani-led RNRL told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
A division bench of Justices J N Patel and K K Tated said that the new agreement should be as per the memorandum of understanding between the Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil. The MoU stipulates that RIL would supply 28 mmscmd of gas to RNRL for 17 years at the rate of $2.43 per million British Thermal Units.
The Ambani brothers -- Mukesh and Anil -- have emerged among the biggest beneficiaries of the people's mandate in favour of the Congress-led UPA government as their group companies added close to Rs 90,000 crore (Rs 900 billion) of wealth in just five trading sessions after the results were declared.
A flare up of sibling rivalry between India 's billionaire Ambani brothers over the proposed takeover of mobile operator Reliance Communications by South Africa's MTN is threatening to spill over into the courts.
Reliance Industries on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the 2005 family agreement to divide the Reliance empire was a pact between the Ambani brothers and Anil should sue Mukesh if he feels aggrieved.
The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its inability to commence final hearing of the gas dispute between the Ambani brothers from September 1, but said it would try to give an early date.
In the midst of the high-octane legal battle between the two Ambani brothers over gas supply from KG-D6 fields, the Planning Commission said on Thursday that it is not concerned about the outcome of the dispute, but only wanted to promote the use of the fuel for the power and fertilizer sectors.
NTPC Ltd on Thursday said it was taking legal opinion on the impact of a court battle between Ambani brothers group firms over gas supply and a related government petition on its ongoing case with Mukesh Ambani-led RIL.
The power company, which is in an existing contract with RIL for the supply of 1.8 mmscmd a day of gas, said its right as a third party would be affected in case interim relief is granted to RNRL. Clarifying that it was not a party to the dispute between the two Reliance companies, Gautami in its petition termed RNRL action as a 'spoiler' as its power plants are yet to be commissioned and natural gas is not required by it.
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