An investigation by government agencies is under progress into the alleged violation of rules in investments made by Singapore-based Biometrix Marketing, a Reliance Industries (RIL) group firm.

An indirect subsidiary of Reliance Life Sciences, it had invested Rs 6,500 crore ($1.7 billion at the then foreign exchange rates) in 2007-08 through some exotic instruments in Reliance Gas Transportation, Relogistics Infrastructure, Reliance Ports and Reliance Utilities. The investments were considered to be the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) from Singapore.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Friday castigated the government’s fuel pricing policy saying it gave undue benefit of Rs 667 crore to Essar Oil and Reliance Industries, and called for renegotiating rates at which diesel is bought from private refiners.

State-owned fuel retailers buy diesel from private refiners as their own production is insufficient to meet domestic demand.

The Union government on Thursday joined the arbitration process initiated by Reliance Industries (RIL) and its partners over delay in revision of the price of natural gas from the Andhra offshore KG-D6 block. It appointed former Supreme Court judge G S Singhvi as its arbitrator.

RIL and its partners, BP Plc of the UK and Niko Resources of Canada, had on May 9 served a pre-arbitration notice on the government, alleging failure to implement the decision on a gas price rise with effect from April 1. This stalling, it said, was preventing sanctioning of investments of around $4 billion.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said on Wednesday that the government's move to disallow it recovery of certain costs relating to the D6 gas block in the Krishna-Godavari basin (KG-D6) did not amount to a penalty and was also not in line with the contract the two had signed.

In a statement issued on the BSE exchange on the penalty, imposed by the government for falling KG-D6 output, it said, “RIL and its partners believe the purported rationale of the government, in proportionately disallowing the cost in the ratio of actual production to the estimated production from D1-D3 fields in KG-D6 is not as per the Production Sharing Contract (PSC).”

With development of three gas finds in Reliance Industries' KG-D6 block held up due to a technical dispute, the petroleum ministry is seeking Cabinet nod to relax timelines to allow the firm retain and produce from the discoveries worth $1.45 billion.

The Oil Ministry is seeking Cabinet nod to allow Reliance Industries to retain three gas discoveries worth $1.45 billion in the eastern offshore KG-D6 block even after expiry of timelines.

RIL has not been able to submit a development plan for D-29, 30 and 31 gas discoveries, which hold an estimated 345 billion cubic feet of reserves, with the prescribed timelines due to dispute with the upstream regulator DGH over tests required to confirm them.

The government imposed an additional penalty of $579 million on Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) for failing to meet the gas production target for its flagship KG-D6 block in 2013-14 as well, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday.

The fresh penalty, the first imposed by the new Narendra Modi-led government, is in addition to the existing fine of $1.80 billion slapped on the company for production shortfall in earlier years — $457 million for 2010-11, $548 million for 2011-12 and $792 million for 2012-13.

Mumbai: Peak production from Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL’s) gas reserves in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin may hit 45-50 million standard cubic metres per day (mscmd) in the next five years, said two executives of the company familiar with the estimates.

To be sure, this is far lower than the earlier estimated peak output of 80 mscmd, but is much above the 13 mscmd that RIL is currently producing from the block.

NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries and its partners BP plc of UK and Canada's Niko Resources have slapped an arbitration notice on the government seeking implementation of a delayed gas-price rise.

The trio had on May 9 issued a "pre-arbitration notice" saying failure to implement the increase from due date of April 1 is preventing them from sanctioning investments of almost US$ 4 billion this year.

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Monday dismissed an appeal by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) against stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in a seven-year-old case.

The company had moved the tribunal after its application to settle charges of "illegal trading gains" through the consent mechanism was rejected by Sebi.

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