Oil Ministry to make DGH more Transparent

Oilmin to Make DGH More Transparent

The oil ministry has accepted an expert panel’s recommendation to make functioning of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH) more transparent to prevent corruption charges, but has firmly rejected its suggestion to transfer the government’s regulatory powers to an independent body. “We agree with the Ashok Chawla Committee recommendation about enhancing transparency levels at DGH, and adopting disclosure norms related to investment audits and postbid monitoring in tune with the best practices existing elsewhere in the world,” an oil ministry official said.

The Chawla Committee was constituted this year to consider measures for tackling corruption in allocation of natural resources after the 2G spectrum scam broke out. The regulatory and contract-management roles of the DGH are under scrutiny amid allegations that it did not safeguard the government’s interests while dealing with private energy firms — such as Cairn India, Reliance Industries, and BG. While the Comptroller & Auditor General has criticised the DGH’s role in its draft report, the CBI has registered a case against the former head of DGH, VK Sibal and six others officials of the directorate.

The ministry has, however, rejected the panel’s demand to carve out DGH’s regulatory functions into an independent regulator. “Bifurcation of the DGH is not practical and such a model does not exist globally,” said the official requesting anonymity.

Source: ET 030811