Last month, the Bombay High Court had asked RIL to supply 28 million units of gas from Krishna-Godavari basin to Reliance Natural Resources for 17 years at $2.34 per unit, after assigning 12 million units to the state-run power utility NTPC.

RIL challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, which heard the case July 20 and fixed Sep 1 as the next date of hearing. It also asked all parties to file their replies on the government position on the matter by then.

According to Anil Ambani, the resolution of the gas dispute was also important as it was holding up power projects of at least 12,000 MW at a time when the country was facing acute shortage of electricity.