The Cabinet sent back the issue of award of coal bed methane (CBM) blocks to the empowered committee of secretaries (ECS).
NEW DELHI: Trying to play safe in the wake of the Anil Ambani Group’s threat to go to court, the Cabinet on Thursday sent back the issue of award of coal bed methane (CBM) blocks to the empowered committee of secretaries (ECS).
The official reason given for deferment of approval was that the ECS meeting, where the decision was taken, was attended by only one secretary and two joint secretaries. The ECS comprises petroleum secretary M S Srinivasan, coal secretary HC Gupta, finance secretary Adarsh Kishore and law secretary TK Vishwanathan.
“A final decision will be taken after a secretary level meeting,” information and broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi told reporters. A decision was likely in 10 days.
The ECS had recommended four blocks for the group companies Reliance Energy Ltd and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd, as against six blocks to which they are claiming rights. It needed the approval of the cabinet committee on economic affairs.
Anil Ambani was doing the rounds of corridors of power on the eve of the Cabinet meeting, on Wednesday, though no confirmation was available on the agenda of his Delhi visit.
Sources said the group is armed with the opinion of two retired judges challenging the legal basis of denying the two blocks in Chhattisgarh.
The ECS had at its last meeting rejected RNRL-REL-GeoPetrol’s contention of discretionary marking in two points for technical assessment and one point for any other work programme.
Directorate general of hydrocarbons VK Sibal, whose organisation is in charge of the bidding process, had earlier told DNA Money that the company was weak on technical parameters, though it had bid aggressively for the financial package.
The two blocks would go to Arrow Energy (India) Pty Ltd-GAIL-EIG-Tata Power and Arrow-GAIL-EIG in the event of ECS rejecting the Anil Ambani group offer for the second time.
Besides the two, the consortium led by Arrow will get a Jharkhand block.
BP Exploration and a consortium of Coalgas Mart-Deep Industries-Adinath have qualified for three other coal bed methane blocks.
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