MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), locked in a legal dispute over its gas supply contract with state-run NTPC, on Monday told the Bombay High Court it was willing to look at an out-of-court settlement.
"The matter can be settled amicably," RIL's lawyer Milind Sathe said after the court framed the issues in the case.
Sathe wanted the court to record that it was desirable for both the parties -- considering that dispute involved a vital energy source -- to make an attempt to sort out the issue. "This would help us in our efforts to settle," he said.
However, Advocate General Ravi Kadam, representing NTPC, opposed any such observation by the court. Finally, Justice R Y Ganoo merely recorded that RIL thought that a settlement was possible.
The parties were at liberty to explore the option of amicable settlement side by side, the court said. The hearing was adjourned till November 11 for the recording of evidence.
RIL won international tender floated by NTPC for supply of 12 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) of natural gas for NTPC's power plants in 2004.
But the two parties failed to reach an agreement on certain issues, including the cap on liability in case of breach of contract.
NTPC has sued RIL, contending the contract had been concluded and the Mukesh Ambani-led company must perform it. RIL, however, says the contract is yet to be concluded.
The outcome of the case will also affect the ongoing dispute between RIL and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd, which is supposed to get the gas earmarked for NTPC if RIL-NTPC contract fails.
