Oppn to co-operate with Govt in procuring KG gas

Hyderabad, Aug 4 :-

  The Opposition and Telugu Desam Legislature Party Leader, Mr N Chandrababu Naidu, on Tuesday extended his support to the State Government in getting allocation of gas produced from Krishna-Godavari basin to the state.

During discussion in the House, Chandrababu Naidu made it clear the Opposition would coordinate with government in the allocation of the gas produced from KG basin to the State.

‘‘It is unfortunate that our state does not get any share in the royalty or in the profit share. We neither enjoy any priority in allocation nor in pricing. This is completely unjust. The extreme interpretation of the constitutional provisions about the offshore resources should not be invoked to deny the people of our state their due share,’’ Naidu said.

He said that the Commission must intervene in the matter as the people of the state were also entitled to reap the benefits of the natural resource, found off the state’s coast.

During the meeting, the former chief minister called for the changes in gas distribution mechanism to ensure that the gas requirements of the state’s industry, especially power generating projects, were met. The state also requires gas to supply the same to every household, he emphasized.

Earlier, replying to a question, the Finance Minister K Rosaiah said state had requested the Centre that it should get at least 10 per cent of the gas allocation on a preferential basis for industrial development.

Later, Minister for Panchayati Raj Botsa Satyanarayana made it clear the Reliance Comapany has no power to fix rate on the gas produced in the KG basin.

The Centre has appointed a commission to fix the rate on gas produced from KG basin, he added.

The Minister said that the State would be given priority in allocation of KG basin gas since the State was not asking for any subsidy.