The Supreme Court refers the KG Basin gas migration dispute between Reliance Industries Limited and the Union government to mediation, appointing former Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Desai as the sole mediator. The court orders that the mediator may take assistance from two technical experts, with one suggested by each party, reflecting the dispute’s commercial and technical complexity.
Outlet coverage focuses on the dispute’s procedural path and the parties’ positions. The Free Press Journal reports that the bench says the parties have not reached a mutually acceptable solution, and it schedules a follow-up to the Supreme Court after four weeks for a progress update, with mediation proceedings coordinated directly with Desai. It also recounts that Reliance and consortium partners challenge a Delhi High Court ruling that set aside an arbitral award of about ₹12,800 crore. The Hindu highlights that RIL has denied the Centre’s allegation that RIL “siphoned” migrated gas from ONGC’s neighbouring blocks into RIL’s KG-D6 block.
