State asks Centre to allocate 31.86 MCMD

HYDERABAD: Finance minister K Rosaiah said on Monday that the state government has requested the Centre to allocate natural gas from KG basin to the tune of 31.86 million cubic metres per day (MCMD) for the nine gas-based power projects in Andhra Pradesh.
However, the matter between NTPC and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has to be settled in court first after which the Centre can form a sub-committee and look into the issue of gas allocation.He said the government has also formed the AP Gas Infrastructure Corporation in which APGenco has 49 per cent stake and APIIC 51 per cent.
The minister's response was to a query from PRP member V Geeta who wanted to know if the gas-based power stations have closed down due to shortage of gas. Rosaiah said all the gas-based power stations in the state are functioning normally.
Leader of the opposition N Chandrababu Naidu demanded that the government claim 50 per cent of the total royalty from the gas at KG basin as the Centre could get over Rs 40,000 crore every year and also urged a House resolution passed on the demand. However, Rosaiah said it was too late as the state can claim royalty only on the onshore but not on the offshore resources.