RIL, other refiners pitch for deregulation of domestic gas. What does free pricing mean?

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A Reliance Industries facility in the Krishna Godavari basin

Synopsis
During an investor call recently, the company said it was continuing with its advocacy for removal of ceiling prices. It feels that the prices are disconnected from global trends when compared to imported LNG. A free-pricing regime can have a broader economic impact, as the Centre looks to raise the share of natural gas in India’s energy mix.

The year was 2008. There was an air of confusion, as people returned disappointed from fuel pumps run by India’s largest private oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) without getting a drop of petrol or diesel. ‘Why are the pumps closed?’; ‘Have they been shut forever?’ — there were many such questions floating around. The trigger for the shutdown came to light soon enough. RIL was forced to shut nearly 1,400 fuel pumps across the country, as