CBI May File Case Against Reliance - Report

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is considering filing a case or multiple cases against Reliance Industries over its operations of its gas block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, the Mint reported on Tuesday.

CBI is likely to name officials in the country's upstream regulator and the petroleum ministry in the case, the newspaper said, citing officials at the federal agency who declined to be named.

Earlier this month, Reliance Industries said there was no evidence to suggest that costs in development of the country's key natural gas field in the KG basin were overstated.

A Reliance Industries spokesman in Mumbai and a spokeswoman for the CBI in New Delhi declined to comment on the newspaper report, when reached by Reuters on Tuesday.

The preliminary inquiry against RIL and others is in final stages and very soon a case will be registered, one of the officials at the investigative agency told the Mint newspaper, referring to Reliance Industries.

The federal auditor has criticised Reliance Industries and the government over development of a key natural gas field in the KG basin and called for revamping profit sharing arrangements from oil and gas blocks.

The offshore KG basin was expected to contribute up to one-quarter the gas supply for India, but lower-than-expected output has left the energy-hungry nation more dependent on expensive, imported LNG to fuel power and fertiliser plants.