The government today strongly rebutted allegations of showing favouritism towards Reliance Industries, saying decisions were taken objectively without fear or favour and it had way back in 2010 rejected the company's demand for a revision in gas price.

It termed as baseless allegations made by activist Arvind Kejriwal that government favoured RIL in award of KG-D6 block subsequently 18 gas and one oil find was made. In a satement issued in New Delhi, the Petroleum Ministry said that the Congress-led UPA-I and UPA-II governments under Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh have been consistently protecting the national interest.

The ministry said the system is not influenced or guided by whims and fancies of any individual or group of individuals. The Ministry continues to function and take decisions with firmness, after due diligence and strict adherence to principles of transparency and probity. It said that the contract under New Exploration Lisensing Policy was modelled after Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) prevalent in other developing countries.

It further said Commonwealth Secretariat provided consultancy during the design of the PSC document. Adding KG-D6 block was awarded to RIL and its Canadian partner Niko Resources through competitive bidding.