CAG on Thursday sharply criticised Reliance Industries and the Oil Ministry for violation of contract over the showpiece KG-D6 gas block and called for revamping the current profit- sharing arrangement that reduces government revenues. The much awaited bill however did not quantify how much the government lost when Reliance hiked the capital expenditure at the nation’s biggest gas field from USD 2.4 billion proposed in 2004 to USD 8.8 billion estimate in 2006.
The CAG faulted the Oil Ministry and its technical arm, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), for allowing Reliance to retain the entire 7,645 sq km KG-DWN-98/3 (KG-D6) block in the Bay of Bengal after the giant Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas finds were made in 2001. (PTI)
