New Delhi, Sept 10: CPI(M) today said CAG report on production sharing contracts with Reliance Industries has “again exposed the nexus” between policy-makers and big business and demanded taking back of 95 per cent of exploration area in KG Basin.
Demanding a series of steps on the basis of the findings of Comptroller and Auditor General, it said 95 per cent of exploration area “illegally retained by RIL in gross violation of Production Sharing Contract” should be taken back.
The CAG report on the Performance Audit of Hydrocarbon Production Sharing Contracts for on-shore and off-shore oil and gas blocks has “once again exposed the nexus between the policy-makers and big businesses that has matured under the UPA government”, the CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement.
It sought imposition of penalties on RIL “for gold-plating contracts and cornering almost the entire share of the profit petroleum”, immediate prosecution of former Director General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and other officials and a probe into the Petroleum Ministry's role.
The party demanded changes in the contracts to prevent misuse and a review of the new exploration licensing policy, saying the entire purpose of the policy “gets defeated if private parties are allowed to retain exploration area”.
CPI(M) said CAG had noted the “connivance” of DGH and the Ministry with RIL in allowing the latter to “hoard the entire exploration area as discovery area”.
As per the contract, RIL was “supposed to vacate 25 per cent of the exploration area in the first phase, 50 in the second phase and all areas in which it had not sunk wells or developed oil wells in the third phase”.
“Instead, RIL never relinquished any of the areas and has been allowed to keep the entire 7645 sq km of the exploration area for the KG D6 block in complete violation of the contract”, CPI(M) said. PTI
