Energy tribunal APTEL on Tuesday pulled up the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board for not framing guidelines on laying pipelines in the country.
An Appellate Tribunal for Electricity bench headed by Justice Anil Dev Singh directed the PNGRB to make a statement on April 21, the next date of hearing, about the progress in guidelines.
Tribunal's direction came during the hearing of a petition filed by Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Fuel Resource Ltd, seeking license for laying pipelines from KG Basin to its upcoming power plant at Dadri, Utter Pradesh.
The board had directed Reliance Fuel to apply afresh for a license to build a pipeline from Kakinada to Dadri as there were no guidelines at that time. It asked the company to apply in compliance with new regulations.
During the previous hearing, counsel appearing for the PNGRB had assured the tribunal that they would bring regulations and guidelines for laying the pipelines very soon.
After observing that there was no development by PNGRB in this regard, APTEL bench said, "We are constraint to say that board has neither drafted the regulation . . . even we have asked the board to form regulations."
On being replied that it would take some time keeping in view the safety standards and measures, the tribunal said, "Pipelines are laying down in the whole world and the standards are very much well known. It is not that first time you are doing a great job.
"You could not say that there are no regulations. Prior to it, government has granted permission .. why the standards was not taken from that.
Meanwhile Amit Kapoor, counsel appearing for Reliance, sought permission to start work on the project as it was getting delayed.
"We discovered the gas there in April 2006, and our target was to build the pipelines till 2010. To get that we should be permitted to start the work," Kapoor contended.
However, this was denied by the tribunal as saying "we could not ask to get that". The tribunal also observed that it was also not sought by the company in its petition. After this, the tribunal again asked the PNGRB, "Tell us what to do. This responsibility is given to you and there is no progress. Petitioner suffers as there are no regulations."
The tribunal, the jurisdiction of which has been extended to cover the entire energy sector is hearing its first case of the petroleum sector.
Reliance is setting up a 8,000-MW plant at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and had sought license from the regulator to lay a pipeline from Kakinada to Dadri, which is estimated to cost Rs 16,000 crore (Rs 160 billion).
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