Supreme Court sends Centre-Reliance KG basin gas dispute to mediation under ex-judge Ranjana Desai

The Supreme Court on Friday sent the long-running dispute between the Centre and Reliance Industries over natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin to mediation, appointing former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai as mediator.

The government has demanded about $1.5 billion plus interest from Reliance and its partners, alleging that gas migrated from neighbouring fields operated by the state-run ONGC into Reliance's deep-water block and was produced and sold without permission. Legal news sites put the total claim at between $1.55 billion and $1.74 billion with interest, or about Rs 12,800 crore.

What the court did

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant made the reference after being told that talks between the two sides had not produced a settlement, LiveLaw reported. Attorney General R Venkataramani, for the Centre, and senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for the Reliance-led consortium, told the court that discussions had not reached a resolution, and both sides asked for mediation, according to LiveLaw and Lawtrend.

"We request Justice Ranjana P. Desai to act as the mediator," the order said. The bench allowed the parties to suggest two domain experts to assist her. NewsX reported that no deadline was fixed for the mediation and that the matter will come back before the court in four weeks for a progress report.

Justice Desai sat on the Supreme Court from 2011 to 2014. She has since chaired the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity and the Delimitation Commission for Jammu and Kashmir, and in November 2025 was named chairperson of the Eighth Central Pay Commission, according to the Free Press Journal.

Background

The block, known as KG-D6, was awarded under a production-sharing contract signed in 2000. Reliance began producing gas there in April 2009, with BP and Canada's Niko Resources as partners, according to Lawtrend.

In 2013 ONGC alleged that its reservoirs and Reliance's were connected and that wells drilled near the boundary had drawn gas from its side. A study by the consultancy DeGolyer and MacNaughton in 2015 indicated the reservoirs were connected, after which the government issued its demand, according to LiveLaw and NewsX.

The dispute went to arbitration. In July 2018 the tribunal ruled, by a majority, in the consortium's favour, finding that the contract did not bar it from producing gas that had migrated into its block, Lawtrend reported. One arbitrator dissented, according to NewsX. A single judge of the Delhi High Court upheld the award in May 2024.

In February 2025 a division bench of the Delhi High Court set aside the award, holding that the government, as trustee of the country's natural resources, could not be presumed to have allowed the extraction simply by staying silent, LiveLaw reported. Reliance and its partners then appealed to the Supreme Court.

What happens next

The parties are to contact Justice Desai to fix dates for written and oral presentations. Any settlement would have to be reported back to the Supreme Court; if mediation fails, the court will hear Reliance's appeal against the High Court ruling on its merits.

No statement from Reliance on Friday's order had been reported at the time of writing. The reports differ on some details of the case, including the exact amount claimed, and The Declaration has given the range.