Arun Jaitley, Saurabh Patel interact with media on centre’s discrimination to Gujarat on gas allocation(Video)

Ahmedabad, 20 August 2012

Addressing a press conference in Ahmedabad today, Gujarat MP and leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Shri Arun Jaitley said that Gujarat is discriminated by the centre in gas allocation for home usage.

Shri Jaitley said that centre has fixed priorities when it comes to gas allocation. Such priorities are same all over the country. If centre says that it supplies such and such gas to Gujarat, the fact is that the gas is supplied to priority industrial sectors like fertilizer, refineries, IFCO, KRIBHCO etc. We never asked why the centre is giving gas to them. Our question is very clear that if APM gas is supplied to domestic consumers of Mumbai and Delhi, why not to Ahmedabad? The question is about non-supply of domestic gas to the domestic consumers of Ahmedabad. In absence of such supply, the Gujarat govt has to procure gas from abroad. The centre should not mention gas supplied to IFCO, KRIBHCO and refineries based in Gujarat as gas supplied to domestic consumer account.

Jaitley said the Gujarat High Court in its order had said that consumers in Ahmedabad should be supplied gas on same rate as Delhi and Mumbai. Jaitley said why should those living in Ahmedabad be discriminated in terms of the rates and quantities of gas.

Speaking at the media interaction, Gujarat minister Saurabh Patel said that imported gas that the government of Gujarat procures is costly. “If centre allocates gas to Gujarat’s GSPC at same rates as Mumbai and Delhi we will cut the gas price by 30%,” he said adding that Congress is demanding VAT relaxation on gas to secure interests of big industries, because 90-95% gas is utilized by large industries.

Surabh said the Gujarat High Court has asked to implement its order in 90 days. The centre should give promise that they will not challenge the HC verdict in Supreme Court, and immediately supply gas as per the High Court order.

Saubrah Patel said that Gujarat is not supplied the gas produced in the country for home usage. “They supply such gas for home usage to Mumbai and Delhi but not to Gujarat,” he added.

“Yesterday the union minister in Ahmedabad said that Gujarat is supplied 4.2 dollar gas, but the fact is that such gas is supplied only to large industries, and not for home usage in Gujarat. Therefore Gujarat govt procures home usage gas from abroad at spot rate and from central govt company Petronet,” Saurabh Patel said.

He said, the empowered group of ministers has fixer priority supply. The first priority if fertilizer sector followed by LPG ad petroleum sector, power plant, CGD, refinery, sponge iron |, and new greenfield projects. Of this CGD (consumer gas distribution) category covers Mumbai and Delhi but not Ahmedabad and that is the injustice.

Official release

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely today said that the Central Government was indeed allocating gas to Delhi and Mumbai for domestic consumers at a lower price than that to Gujarat.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the Centre continued be prejudiced against Gujarat despite repeated representation by Gujarat Government to end this discrimination, with the consumers here bearing the brunt of Centre’s policy. He said that he would raise the issue of this injustice to Gujarat in Parliament, too.

In response to Union Minister of State R.P.N. Singh’s press statement in Ahmedabad yesterday, Mr. Jaitley said: “Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) frame policies at the Centre and on the basis of which gas is allotted to Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), Refineries and Industries but we have never raised any objection on this count. But consumers in Gujarat do not get the gas at the same prices as their counterparts in Delhi and Mumbai. We oppose this injustice. In fact, the Union Minister’s visit to Gujarat was to mislead the people. The Centre includes gas allocated to Central PSEs from Gujarat quota. This has resulted in Gujarat Government’s State PSE, GSPC, importing gas at a higher price. Gujarat High Court has also ruled against Centre and in favour of Gujarat. The Centre should forthwith allocate gas to Gujarat at the same prices as that to Delhi and Mumbai.”

Gujarat’s Minister of State for Energy Saurabh Patel said that Gujarat Government would reduce the gas prices by 30 per cent with immediate effect if the Centre allocates gas to Gujarat at the same prices as to Delhi and Mumbai. He said that 95 per cent of gas allocated by the Central Government goes to big industries.

While APM gas is allocated at USD 4.20/MMBTU, PPL RLNG at USD 9.14/MMBTU, but Gujarat has to buy its additional requirement at USD 16.36/MMBTU.

Mr. Patel said the Centre should allocate gas to Gujarat at USD 4.20/MMBTU in reverence to Gujarat High Court’s directive, instead of going in appeal to the apex court against Gujarat.

He said that nation’s prestigious company GSPC supplies gas to 9.6-lakh domestic consumers and 4.5-lakh CNG-powered vehicles through gas-grid and, ironically, the Centre is hell-bent on deactivating this gas-grid, too.

Referring to the Centre’s prejudiced policy Mr. Patel said that Union Minister Singh’s statement made here yesterday betrays his innocence because he is a party to the five-member EGoM decision about gas allocation. He said the Centre tried to mislead Gujarat consumers by fleecing them of crores of rupees for years together but the people of the state have by now recognized the vested interests.

Leader of opposition reacts to Jaitley’s remarks:

Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Shaktisinh Gohil today said that Rajya Sabha Member from Gujarat Shri Arun Jaitley pleaded a hollow case for Gujarat before the media. It was as if an advocate arguing a case just on the insistence of the client, he said. Jaitley did not have any figures about the quantity of the gas Gujarat gets? the rate at which it gets and the percentage of the total gas given by the Centre to all States? Referring to the media interaction of Jaitley on the issue of gas to Gujarat, he said that Jaitely did not address any of the important facts in his media release. Gohil challenged Chief Minister to hold a joint media interaction to tell the truth to people of Gujarat.

In a statement, he said that Shri Arun Jaitley and Shri Saurabh Patel could not dispute the figure of allocation of gas to Gujarat given by the Petroleum Minister yesterday. BJP has rocked Parliament on the issue of CAG report, but it is maintaining stoic silence over the fact that Gujarat government was not responding to the revelation of CAG that Gujarat Government was giving gas to Adani at throw away price. Even in the High Court, Centre has maintained in an affidavit that Mumbai, Delhi and Gujarat all were given gas at the same price- 4.2 US Dollar per MMBTU (minus royalty). It has not been disputed anywhere. Even Gujarat Government has accepted the affidavit. How much more VAT is charged on gas in Gujarat than other States? Gohil demanded to know the difference in the basic price at which the State gets gas from the Centre and the cost at which it is distributed to the consumers. He said that the Government has anonymous advertisement in newspapers claiming that the State gets very little gas and it is like a slap on the face of the people. The fact is that the BJP which has spent lakhs of rupees on this advertisement from the State coffers has slapped common man. It is clear from today’s BJP press that the figures given by the Union Minister yesterday about gas are true. The Chief Minister has made a non Gujarati Rajya Sabha member utter total lie about the issue. If it is true then it should be supported by facts. It has been proved today that even a big counsel cannot succeed if his arguments are baseless.