Oil regulator seeks cancellation of licence for Reliance pipelines

Oil regulator PNGRB has asked the government to cancel licence granted to Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure (RGTIL) to lay four gas pipelines, saying the company has been dragging its feet on implementation of the 2,175-km pipelines..Relogistics Infrastructure Ltd (Relog), a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani's RGTIL, had in 2007-08 won government authorisation to lay Kakinada-Basudebpur-Howrah pipeline, Kakinada-Chennai line, Chennai-Bangalore-Mangalore pipeline and ChennaiTuticorin line but physical work on these pipelines haven't yet started..The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has written to the Oil Ministry recommending cancellation of the authorisation over delays in implementation of the pipelines, a top PNGRB official said.."The Board has taken a view of recommending cancellation of authorisation for the four pipelines. That has been communicated to the government," he said, adding the licences were given by the government prior to PNGRB began functional and so its cancellation can now be done only by the Ministry..Relog has cited uncertainty about availability of gas as the reason for not building the lines, which were to be build in three years from date of all approvals as per the original authorisation were to be. The three year period expires this month. The official said Relog has also refused to furnish bank guarantee, which can be confiscated if the company did not complete the pipeline within the given timeframe..RGTIL says it built the 1,396-km East-West pipeline from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Bharuch in Gujarat to ferry natural gas from eastern offshore KG-D6 fields, in record time. And it is "fully equipped" to complete the four pipelines in 24 months, but wants to synchronise the construction with gas sourcing..The company claims that while demand can be generated, sourcing of gas is a problem..Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 field output has dropped to 32 million standard cubic meters per day instead of rising to 80 mmscmd..KG-D6 and other eastern offshore gas fields were supposed to be the source of fuel for the pipelines but in view of falling output and no other field coming on stream in near future, the pipeline work has been delayed, it said..As per the original authorisation, the pipelines were to be completed within 36 months of the notification of expression of interest or 24 months from the date of 100 per cent availability of right of user (RoU), whichever is later..The twin deadlines expire between June to August for the four pipelines..The official said PNGRB has not yet taken any view on the authorisations granted by state-owned GAIL India Ltd.

Oil regulator seeks cancellation of licence for Reliance pipelines

As growth slows and expectations of rate cuts rise, Aditya Puri, managing director of HDFC Bank, says that while some room for rate easing has opened up, any dramatic reduction in rates is unlikely.

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