IAS babu's appointment in Prime Minister's Office reversed "under pressure" from top industry houses

A top source, known to have worked in close proximity with former Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi before Modi took over as India’s Prime Minister, has raised an alarm: The appointment of RN Choubey, a 1981 batch IAS officer, in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was “cancelled” overnight “under pressure" from industrial houses, including Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). While official reason being cited for this is, the Modi government doesn’t want the PMO to become “heavy top”, actually a similar situation prevailed in October 2013, when Choubey was eased out as director-general hydrocarbons (DGH) by the UPA government for "differing" with RIL.
“It is highly unlikely that the PMO did not know Choubey’s background before appointing him as a Modi aide”, the source, who did not want to reveal his name, declared. Choubey was brought in as DGH in 2012 in order to revamp the body, which had been accused by CBI and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of being “soft” towards private oil companies while enforcing production sharing contracts (PSC). The RIL was particularly accused of deliberately digging fewer wells than envisaged in the development plan, leading to sharp fall in output.
Choubey was eased out of DGH in October 2013 under controversial circumstances, and the issue acquired political dimension. Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta immediately alleged that then petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily “removed DGH Choubey to favour Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL).” Moily’s predecessor S Jaipal Reddy had locked horns with RIL, which is why Reddy is said to have lost his job. Choubey was handpicked by Reddy in 2012 for the powerful DGH post, which is empowered to all major decisions as regulator in oil and gas exploration.

Choubey

Under Reddy's tenure, RIL was penalized over US$ 1 billion for falling output from its KG Basin gas fields, which the RIL was involved in exploration under a contract with the Government of India. The huge fine is said to have become the main reason for Reddy’s removal from post, which he held between January 2011 and October 2012. Reliance argued that the falling output from the KG Basin was because it had “overestimated the reserves in the fields”, an argument rejected by Reddy, who ordered the imposition of the penalty.
In his letter to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Dasgupta had said that the DGH’s removal was a “sinister ploy”. “The present incumbent was appointed in June 2012 for tenure of three years. The plan currently underway to transfer him prematurely is a sinister ploy by the petroleum minister, who is acting at the behest of RIL in the matter”, Dasgupta had insisted.
Choubey, Dasgupta insisted, had “independent views” on the manner in which the RIL was refusing relinquish KG Basin’s D-6 blocks, off Andhra Pradesh coast. “By stalling the relinquishment of an area having 1,150 billion cubic feet of gas, Moily was trying to provide a windfall profit worth Rs 60,000 crore to the RIL”, Dasgupta said. The DGH had proposed relinquishment of eight discoveries of 6,601 sq km at the KG-D6 block.

Dasgupta

The RIL was accused of violating terms of PSC governing the KG blocks, deliberate underproduction, deliberate underproduction, and making efforts to put the D-6 field of KG Basin for auction. Instead of penalizing the RIL, the Government of India “rewarded” it by deciding to increase the price of natural gas from USD 4.2 per million British thermal unit (mbtu) to USD 8.4 mbtu from April 1, 2014, an issue immediately taken up by Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal to say RIL was the UPA government’s “dukaan”.
Significantly, Choubey was appointed additional secretary in the PMO three days ago by shifting Shatrughna Singh from PMO to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Choubey belongs to the Tamil Nadu cadre. After his removal from the DGH posting in 2013, he worked as additional secretary in Union ministry of power. Earlier, he was development commissioner (handlooms) the Union ministry of textiles.

Comments

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Not just Haren Pandya, even Dhirubhai Shah, youngest assembly speaker, wanted to be Gujarat CM

Dhirubhai Shah with Keshubhai Patel When Keshubhai Patel was sought to be replaced by the BJP high command in 2001, everyone knows that Narendra Modi became the final choice. However, someone who was part of the top circles those days now tells me something I had no knowledge of—that the choice was between Modi and a Kutch MLA, Dhirubhai Shah, who served as the 16th Speaker from March 1998 to December 2002 during the 10th Assembly, the youngest to take the office.

Of lingering shadow of Haren Pandya's murder during Modi's Gujarat days

Sunita Williams’ return to Earth has, ironically, reopened an old wound: the mysterious murder of her first cousin, the popular BJP leader Haren Pandya, in 2003. Initially a supporter of Narendra Modi, Haren turned against him, not sparing any opportunity to do things that would embarrass Modi. Social media and some online news portals, including The Wire , are abuzz with how Modi’s recent invitation to Sunita to visit India comes against the backdrop of how he, as Gujarat’s chief minister, didn’t care to offer any official protocol support during her 2007 visit to Gujarat.

Just 5% Gujarat Dalit households 'recognise' social reformers who inspired Ambedkar

An interesting survey conducted across 22 districts and 32 villages in Gujarat sheds light on the representation of key social reformers in Dalit households. It suggests that while Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's photo was displayed in a majority of homes, images of Lord Buddha and the 19th-century reformist couple, Savitribai Phule and Jyotiba Phule, were not as commonly represented.

Search This Blog