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Indian oil ministry Thursday described as "baseless and frivolous" the allegations on gas pricing related to the KG-D6 fields operated by Reliance Industries(RIL). The ministry was reacting to India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal's allegations that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh allowed windfall profits to RIL over its contract to develop the gas fields in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin.

The ministry in a release said that both UPA governments under Manmohan Singh have been consistently protecting national interests.

"The ministry is committed to upholding the rule of law amd the decisions are taken objectively without any fear or favor", said the statement.

"The system is not influenced or guided by whims and fancies of any individual or group of individuals," it added.

Referring to media reports about postponement of a technical meeting with India's official auditor regarding audit of certain KG-D6 blocks, the ministry clarified that the audit had been entrusted to Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) back in 2007 by the then oil minister Murli Deora.

"Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has raised certain apprehensions regarding this audit and expressed their desire to discuss the issue further. The issues are likely to be finalized in the next few weeks," oil ministry said.

Kejriwal had alleged the government was leaning towards allowing RIL to charge more for its gas supplies, which, if effected, would violate the contract and would allow the company to benefit by Rs.43,000 crore.

The oil ministry said the government had already clarified in 2010 that gas prices cannot be revised before 2014.

Furthur, as early as 2006 the government had rejected the gas price formula submitted by RIL. In 2010 again, Murli Deora rejected RIL's plea to hike gas price before 2014.

Admitting that gas production has declined substantially in KG-D6, the ministry said it had already disallowed proportionate cost recovery by RIL because of lower production