Rangarajan Committee recommends average global prices for domestic gas

The Prime Minister-appointed Rangarajan Committee has suggested mandating a price of domestically produced natural gas at an average of international hub prices and cost of imported LNG instead of present mechanism of market discovery.

The panel in its report made public today suggested first taking an average of the US, Europe and Japanese hub or market price and then averaging it out with the netback price of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) to give sale price of domestically produced gas.

Industry sources, however, raised doubts saying acceptance of the recommendations would lead to overriding of the signed contracts. Currently, Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) provide for gas being sold at an arms-length price discovered through market bids invited from potential users.

Acceptance of the recommendation would mean government mandating a price of gas and ending the last of the remaining freedoms available, they said.

The government has already taken over the task of fixing users curbing marketing freedom guaranteed in PSC.

Sources also questioned how a market price in the US or Europe which is a function demand and supply in that region, could be applied to a hugely fuel deficit nation like India.

The US has low gas prices because of abundant fuel with the advant of shale gas while demand in Europe and Japan, unlike India, has fallen.

The panel headed by C Rangarajan, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said the PSC provides for arm's length pricing and prior Government approval of the formula or basis for gas pricing, subject to policy on natural gas pricing.

"Since no market-determined arm's length price currently obtains domestically and nor is this likely to happen for several more years, a policy on pricing of natural gas has been proposed," it said.

The Committee recommended deriving one price from "the volume-weighted net-back price to producers at (LNG) exporting country well-head for Indian imports for the trailing 12 months."

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