Ambani bros should stop fighting: Deora

Petroleum minister Murli Deora on Sunday urged the warring Ambani brothers to stop “fighting”, as it would be good for the country. “I want the (Ambani) brothers to stop fighting. It will be good for the country. I am happy that the court has lifted ban on KG basin gas sales. A lot of fertiliser and power plants in the country are idle or operating below capacity for the want of gas,” said Mr Deora, who was in Mumbai to honour the families of the army and police personnel, who lost their lives in the Mumbai terror attacks. “The KG basin gas will substantially reduce the subsidy burden of the government to the power and fertiliser sectors,” said Mr Deora, an old family friend of the Ambanis. Reliance Industries (RIL) is expected to start producing gas from the hydrocarbon rich Krishna-Godavari basin later this month. The gas production will be scaled up to 40 million metric standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) by end-2009 and to 80 mmscmd by end-2010, doubling India’s gas production. Around 70% of the KG basin gas is being allocated to the power and fertiliser sectors. It is expected to increase the power generation by 8,000 MW and urea production by 10 million tonne per annum (mtpa). The families of the victims were allotted petroleum product dealerships commonly referred to as petrol pumps in a formal ceremony in Mumbai on Sunday. The scheme has been approved by the government and families shall be provided land for retail stores at any place of their choice within the state. On asking whether someone can avail this facility outside Maharashtra, Mr Deora said, “We are open to that and if someone so desires, we shall get an approval for the same from Central government.” Apart from Mr Deora, petroleum secretary RS Pandey and chief minister Ashok Chavan also were present.