The government is now insisting on its power to set the price for any gas produced by private companies.
A person familiar with the development, who said the RIL decision could set a benchmark for CBM gas pricing, said: "RIL is discussing the issue with some power and fertiliser companies.
After they arrive on a price, they will take it to the government." An RIL spokesperson would not comment on the matter.
The YK Modi-promoted GEECL, the first company to produce CBM, is already selling gas (it didn't, at the time, have to take government approval) from its Raniganj block at $7 a British thermal unit.
RIL had, after discovering gas in its flagship Krishna-Godavari basin find on the east coast, invited bids from power and fertiliser companies to determine a market benchmark. KG-D6 gas is sold at $4.2 per unit.
According to the government's Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, Reliance holds a total of 3.6 trillion cubic feet of gas
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