And the Ambani saga continues…in the process the political will of the country is being compromised.
By Amit Jugran
The Ambani vs. Ambani feud has taken epic proportions. For the first time in the history of
For the past few months the two brothers are engaged in serious contest on what has not been theirs-the great gas dispute. And in the process we got another interesting partaker to the imbroglio-the Govt. of India. While the two brothers are involved in mud slinging, the Govt. of India is not spared either with allegations of one sibling of siding with another.
To the extent it remains ‘allegations’ is all fair. In a democratic set up you are allowed to lawfully challenge anything which according to you is wrong. However when one decides to use public platforms to launch scathing attacks for private motives under the garb of public and national interest, it gives an impression of an extreme ‘un-business like’ society that we live in; as a result pushing the economic environment back by a few paces by creating slacker state of affairs for multinationals to follow.
The ugliest turn in this rivalry is what we are seeing for the past 2 days- a carpet bombing of sorts by buying out front pages of all national dailies to seek public opinion. In an unprecedented move, one of the brothers is proposing a public debate. Now whether the advertisements seek public opinion or mould public opinion is a matter of ones opinion. What really needs to be debated is if we allow this ‘model’ to continue. To briefly guage, the upside of this model is that it gives us instant ears and eyeballs to our sufferings. The downside is that if and only if I have deep pockets I can make everyone listen to me, else my genuine apathy may just be bulldozed by distorted facts presented by corporates and individuals with deep pockets.
But end of the day it’s important to ponder over the fact that who let the Frankenstein out of the crypt. Well, end of the day the blame rests completely with the Govt. machineries, for letting the noose loosen. A resilient unbiased decree on part of the govt. could have prevented such brazen attempts from the brothers which undermines the governance sought by transnational companies. And in the process making
I feel that in the larger interest of the general public it’s a good start. At least some one has taken up the responsibility of cleaning up the energy mess. What India requires is creating a level playing field for all the players in the sector and also investments in fuel economy. To achieve this, we need transparent rules, else no serious overseas explorers will invest in India. Govt. claims that energy is a national asset and is the fact and it is for this reason that we tax payers deserve the better deal. We should understand the fact that if input costs are higher the output would be more costlier. The world over, industries in power and fertiliser sector make use of four-fifths of all gas production: it’s likely to be the same in India as well. So, India’s growth will depend on what we pay for fuel and power. Small amounts of gas discovered by state-owned companies more than 10 years ago are sold for around $2 or less to fertiliser companies. The NTPC-RIL-RNRL contract price is $2.34; the government mandated price for the same stuff is $4.2. If you want to import gas that comes as liquids in tankers, you pay a floating rate that can go as high as $8 per unit. Isn’t’ it surprising that govt. is only intervening in deciding on the pricing only for gas from RIL’s D6 basin in the Bay of Bengal, however, how will gas produced elsewhere in other exploration blocks be priced, still remains a question mark?
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