NEW DELHI, Feb 5 ? The fate of the mega gas cracker project appears to be sealed, with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas confirming that the Assam Government has been asked to look for alternative projects. This was conveyed by Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Sumitra Mahajan, in a written reply to Paban Singh Ghatowar in the Lok Sabha here today.
?Since a considerable amount of subsidy is involved in making the project viable, it has been suggested that in today?s environment, the State Government may also consider identifying alternative proposals,? the Minister wrote to Ghatowar, who incidentally is also a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee attached to the Petroleum Ministry.
The disclosure by the Minister in the Lok Sabha is confirmation of what was suspected all along, that the Rs 3,700-crore Reliance-Assam Petrochemical Limited (RAPL) project may not take off because of the latest complications. The Union Finance Ministry is likely to shoot down the proposal for releasing the subsidy estimated to be around Rs 6,000 crore. The additional amount was needed to clear the subsidy for LPG which has been identified as the alternative feedstock to meet the shortfall in gas supply.
The latest crisis and the resultant stalemate had prompted the Centre last year to constitute a high-level group of Secretaries to look into problem afresh. The group headed by the Cabinet Secretary is yet to submit its report to the Government. The Petroleum Ministry on its part had sounded out to the Assam Government to expect the worst because the possibility of Finance Ministry agreeing to sanction the subsidy, which is estimated to be more than the project itself.
A top official said that Assam Government was advised to go for alternative projects like mega power project. The response from the State Government was awaited. The Minister of State, meanwhile, acknowledged that the Chief Minister of Assam and officials of State Government have been meeting the Central Ministers to press for speedy implementation of the gas cracker project. The project has already suffered a delay of over 14 years.
Under pressure of the State Government, the Petroleum Ministry asked Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) to conduct a fresh study on the feasibility of the gas cracker project. Smt Mahajan in her written reply disclosed that the GAIL has not submitted its recommendations so far to the Government.