An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) may meet on May 7 to consider Rangarajan Committee recommendation of more than doubling the price of domestically produced natural gas to $8.8 per mmBtu.
The EGoM on gas pricing and allocation headed by Defence Minister A K Antony will consider the recommendation of a panel headed by C Rangarajan, Chairman of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, to replace current rates of gas varying between $ 4.2 to 5.73 per million British thermal unit with a complex international hub price formula.
Sources said the EGoM may also consider Power Ministry's request for changing the priority for allocation of natural gas by putting power plants at equal footing with urea making fertiliser units.
EGoM had previously accorded top priority to fertiliser plants for receipt of natural gas from Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 fields. lPG extraction units were placed second on the list, followed by power plants.
This priority list essentially meant that when KG-D6 output started to fall, requirement of top priority customers in fertiliser and lPG sector was first met and remaining gas was pro-rata supplied to power plants.