RIL, which currently produces around 62 million standard cubic metres per day of gas from KG-D6, sells the fuel to customers identified by the government and at rates approved by it

The Indian government is not considering taking over marketing of natural gas produced by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) from its eastern offshore Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin D6 fields, reports PTI.

Minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Jitin Prasada replied in the negative when suspended Samajwadi Party's member of parliament (MP) Amar Singh in the Rajya Sabha asked if the "government proposes to take over the distribution and marketing of gas (of) RIL."

RIL, which currently produces around 62 million standard cubic metres per day of gas from KG-D6, sells the fuel to customers identified by the government and at rates approved by it.

Mr Prasada said the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) like the one Mukesh Ambani company signed with the government for exploring and producing hydrocarbons from Block KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6, gives marketing freedom to the contractor (RIL in this case), subject to the Gas Utilisation Policy framed by the government.

"The gas produced from KG-D6 is being sold in accordance with government's priorities and decisions made by the government in this regard," he said.

An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), constituted to decide issues pertaining to commercial utilisation of gas under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), has decided that the contractor would sell gas to consumers in accordance with the marketing priorities determined by the government, he added.