New Delhi, Jun 21 (IANS): The petroleum ministry has asked for eight weeks' time to reply to the CAG draft report on allowing an increase in capital expenditure by RIL for developing gas fields in the Krishna Godavari basin.
Petroleum minister Jaipal Reddy said that it was too early to draw any conclusions as the report was only an interim one.
"Our ministry has asked for eight weeks' time. We need to look at files dealt with years ago," Reddy told reporters here.
The draft report of the CAG rapped the technical arm of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) for approving an increase in estimated capital expenditure by RIL from $2.4 billion to $8.5 billion between May 2004 and October 2006.
The official auditor, however, said it was difficult to comment on the reasonableness of the increase.
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman and senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had attacked the government over the CAG report which allegedly accused RIL of inflating the price of developing oil and gas fields in the Krishna Godavari basin.
"The draft report is not a final report. The CAG would send draft reports to the ministries concerned with an open mind so that the government could give their replies with an open mind," Reddy told reporters here.
The oil minister noted that "if there are valid criticism made in the final report, we will not hesitate to correct ourselves or take remedial steps. But that does not mean we should jump to conclusions."
He added that Joshi should not "compromise his position by jumping the gun". "By making this criticisms, I am afraid that they are prejudicing the process of objective examination by the CAG. Be that as it may, Joshi is chairman of Public Accounts Committee. After the report is finalised and placed in parliament, this has to go before him," said Reddy.
"The spectacle of an octogenarian parliamentarian hunting for headlines is not very edifying," he added.
The oil minister also said the DGH had taken into account suggestions made by two external consultants while agreeing to the increase in capital expenditure and that the ministry's technical arm did not have the equipment or the expertise to calculate the figures associated with such complicated data.
"The CAG examined the accounts of only 2006-07 and 2007-08. They did not look at the accounts of 2008-09 and 2009-10. They said they would look at the accounts. They themselves said in their draft report that while increasing the price was suspect they were not in a position to quantify."
Joshi had also claimed that the empowered group of ministers allowed the Mukesh Ambani-led group to charge gas at $4.2 per unit when state-run ONGC was selling the same at $1.8 per unit.
"This draft report does not make any reference to the pricing of gas," said Reddy.
He criticised Joshi for "singling out Chidambaram due to personal agenda". Home Minister P. Chidambaram was part of the empowered group of ministers which decide the price as the then finance minister.
"If decisions taken by eGoM are to be criticised personally, then there is no shelter for ministers. Decisions taken in eGoM are collective... if such attacks are made, people will be afraid to take decisions," said Reddy.
The minister added the draft report will not influence the pace of government's decision on various pending proposals like the Cairn-Vedanta deal and between RIL and British Petroleum. "We will try to take the Cairn-Vedanta deal to CCEA this week and the other (RIL-BP) deal is already under the oil ministry's consideration," he said.