Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries will lose around $1 billion (Rs 4,300 crore) a year if it sells gas to the Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources at the agreed price of $2.34 per million British thermal unit
Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries fears that gas supplied to Reliance Natural Resources, belonging to younger brother Anil Ambani, would be traded to a third party as RNRL does not have a power plant, said Harish Salve, the legal counsel of RIL.
Last week, RIL moved the apex court challenging the Bombay high court order that asked it to supply 28 mmscmd of gas to RNRL at $2.34 per mmbtu.
"There would be no impact on the government at all and it would suffer no loss whatsoever. RIL would also make a profit of Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) at this rate," RNRL said in an affidavit before a bench headed by chief justice K G Balakrishnan.
Total income decreased to Rs 66.16 crore (Rs 661.6 million) during the July-September quarter of the current fiscal, from Rs 80.91 crore (Rs 809.1 million) in the corresponding period a year-ago.
The total income of the company rose 32 per cent to Rs 80.91 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs 61.31 crore in the year-ago period. For the six months ended September 30, RNRL reported a net profit of Rs 36.17 crore, a 5.72 per cent growth over the corresponding year-ago period. The firm had a net profit of Rs 34.21 crore in the same period last fiscal.
Two Anil Ambani group companies, Reliance Power and Reliance Natural Resources, on Monday said their respective shareholders have approved merger between the two entities, estimated to create a Rs 50,000-crore (Rs 500 billion) entity.
ADAG has drawn up plans to invest Rs 650 billion in the steel, cement and shipping se three new areas over the next five years. The investment includes Rs 200 billion to set-up a 10 million cement plant and Rs 400 billion towards a steel plant in Jharkhand. The group believes that the three new lines of businesses fit more with RNRL than with other companies under the group, an ADAG source said.
Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) lost more than a fourth of its market capitalisation in just two days of trading after the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) announced its merger with sister firm Reliance Power (R-Power).
However, no formal confirmation of the meeting and the issues discussed could be obtained from either group.
A new Bench will be constituted on Thursday to hear the high-voltage case between Mukesh Amabani's RIL and Anil Ambani's RNRL relating to pricing of gas from K G Basin.
Days after the Supreme Court rejected his case for cheap gas for his group company, billionaire Anil Ambani has written a morale boosting letter to group employees saying the judgement though "disappointing" has safeguarded interest of RNRL shareholders.
An analysis of buy and sell transactions by mutual funds during May shows that the fund houses purchased stocks from sectors like power, software, housing finance and sugar, while offloading shares from banking, refineries and airlines. According to brokerage firm Sharekhan, state-run NTPC, ONGC, TCS, Essar Oil and Reliance Petroleum figure among the favourite picks by the equity funds in the month of May.
But RIL is yet to agree on the grounds that it is studying the implication of the judgement. On June 15, the Bombay high court gave the two companies a month's time to work out a firm gas volumes, price, timelines and other commercial details for sourcing the fuel from Krishna Godavari basin fields.
ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani on Friday said his group had no immediate plans to seek review of the Supreme Court verdict that rejected cheap gas to group firm RNRL from Mukesh Ambani-led RIL.
Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Natural Resources has filed an affidavit in the Bombay High Court in the case involving Reliance Industries, refuting the petroleum ministry's stand that the government-approved price of $4.2/million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) is the selling price of gas.
Blaming RIL for delay in starting its Dadri power project, RNRL said it was RIL's wrongful conduct that delayed its gas-based power plant by four years. However, it had sought a direction to RIL to supply the gas immediatley to it. On July 7, the Supreme Court issued notice to RIL, RNRL and the Centre (as intervener) on cross-appeals by both the companies on their gas supply dispute.
RIL is relying upon the pleadings in RIL Vs RNRL case to support its defence against NTPC.
Reliance Industries will not "scale down" production from Krishna Godavari basin to accommodate RNRL's future needs, nor would it renegotiate the government-approved price of the gas, the Bombay High Court was told on Thursday.
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.
An RIL spokesperson said that the company has filed its reply to the government's petition on the gas dispute.
The interlocutory application filed on Tuesday made it clear that $4.20 per mmBtu price approved by the government for RIL's KG-D6 gas was without prejudice to the state-run firm's case seeking the fuel from the Mukesh Ambani-run company at $2.34 per mmBtu price committed in 2004.
The Ambani brothers are not yet ready to bury the hatchet. Legal counsels of both the parties say they are ready to fight it out in the court next week. The case is scheduled to come up for hearing on 12 January.
In the short run, ONGC and OIL should both reap a bonanza given the government hike.
The NSE Nifty ended at 4,838, up 90 points. The market breadth was negative - out of 2,843 stocks traded, 1,629 declined, 1,166 advanced and 48 were unchanged on Friday.
Anil Ambani Group firm RNRL on Tuesday welcomed the government's move to protect NTPC's interest on sourcing gas from Reliance Industries, saying effective legal steps will defeat the Mukesh Ambani firm's 'malafide attempts to dishonour' its commitment.
The apex court had sought the response after Anil Ambani-led RNRL had consented to government being made a party in the dispute. RNRL contended that it was entitled to receive the gas at $2.34 per unit from Mukesh Ambani group RIL which had entered into an arrangement for supplying gas to NTPC at that rate.
Welcoming the amendments proposed by the government to its petition on the Ambani gas row, Anil Ambani on Tuesday said his group company RNRL's dispute with Mukesh-led RIL was commercial and pertained to the demerger of the Reliance businesses.
Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday said the Supreme Court upholding the government's right to approve price and utilisation of gas was a "fair decision" and it had no bearing on the gas supply dispute between NTPC and Reliance Industries.
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 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.
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 move comes within days of RNRL approaching the apex court to become a party to the petition filed by NTPC against RIL that seeks quashing of the Bombay high court, which allowed the Mukesh Ambani group firm to amend its petition.
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.
Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay high court judgement that asked it to supply gas to Anil Ambani Group's firm RNRL at a price of $2.34 per mmbtu.
"The MoU between the (Ambani) brothers is in the private domain and has never been produced in the court. Agreements between the brothers were entered into on the basis of negotiation and decision on the case cannot be taken on this basis," Milind Sathe, senior counsel for Mukesh Ambani's RIL had told a division bench in July this year.
The group had a net profit of Rs 68.58 crore (Rs 685.8 million) for the year ended March 31, 2008, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The consolidated income increased to Rs 418.96 crore (Rs 4.18 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2009, up 14.06 per cent from Rs 367.31 crore (Rs 3.67 billion) in the year-ago period.
The Bombay high court has modified the interim order on the sale of KG basin gas by Reliance Industries.
Gas production from the country's biggest gas block is less than a year away, but Reliance Industries (RIL), operator of the block in the Krishna-Godavari basin, and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL), the biggest buyer of gas from the block, have not made headway on renegotiating the sales agreement.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances