SC judgment on RNRL vs RIL-II: Is it really a level playing field between PSUs and private sector?

Reliance Industries Limited and NTPC are at loggerheads over a contract for the supply of 12 MMSCMD of natural gas from RIL’s KG D-6 block to the Kawas and Gandhar expansion power projects in Gujarat, at $ 2.34 per MMBTU.

• This price was discovered over the course of a global tender floated by the power major, wherein RIL emerged victorious.
• RIL has not yet commenced supplies to the two power plants due to certain issues pertaining to risk factors and compensation therefore. On this, NTPC approached the Bombay High Court in 2005, pleading for the judiciary's intervention. 
• Meanwhile, the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) filed a suit against RIL, in 2006, calling for the enforcement of a family contract, which stipulated supply of gas from RIL to RNRL at $2.34 per unit, as well. RIL, however, wanted to supply the gas at $4.2/unit, subject to revision after five years.
• The Supreme Court of India gave its verdict on the RIL vs RNRL case on May 7, 2010, wherein the overriding powers granted to the union government for the regulation of natural gas were upheld. As such, the family agreement was cited as subservient to the Government's policies and legislation on gas pricing, granting a victory to RIL.
• While NTPC's plea is still sub-judice, the apex court clearly freed the EGoM to use its own judgment and allocate gas to NTPC at the competitively obtained price or any other price found suitable, a stand clarified by the Ministry of Law and Justice. 
• Given these circumstances, NTPC might actually receive supplies at a price of $ 2.34, which would give it a huge leg up over other power producers of the country, if it manages to iron out the dispute over sharing of liabilities with RIL. If this materializes, the government's claim to be giving a level playing field to all players, private or public, will turn out to be a hogwash.