To Attract Investments Mr. Moilly: Please Drive the Ghosts Away, If You Can!

摘要

The removal of S. Jaipal Reddy from the high profile and politically volatile oil ministry got central media focus within hours of the recent cabinet reshuffle. This comes at a time when the government has softened its stance on RIL over the D6 issue by conceding its demand that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) be allowed to undertake only a financial audit of the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin operations rather than a performance audit. The government has also informed RIL that the oversight committee on the KG-D6 block has approved all the development plans of the company. RIL had always maintained that it was ready to go for an audit by the CAG, but only according to Section 1.9 of the production sharing contract (PSC), which allows for only financial audit. RIL had also maintained that it would be difficult for it to go ahead with further investment in the KG basin unless the gas price was hiked. It currently sells gas at $4.2 per million metric British thermal unit. If high-pitched media speculations that suggest that Reddy was removed at the behest of Mukesh Ambani's company are true, then it begs the question-why was it done when Reddy appeared to be falling in line?