"Power companies can not be allowed to determine LNG prices... just as we do not have a say in power tariff," Ramamurthy said in an interview and added that his ministry had negated NTPC's proposal to acquire majority holding in Cochin project of Petronet.

Power minister P Rangarajan Kumaramangalam also said that power public sector undertakings (PSUs) would look at other options of importing LNG either directly or through joint ventures if they were not given a voice in price fixation and other decisions in Petronet LNG.

Supporting NTPC's bid to acquire 26 per cent stake in Petronet LNG, a joint venture promoted by four national oil companies with 12.5 per cent stake each for importing liquid fuel, Kumaramangalamsaid "we should have a veto power in Petronet to say no to a particular contract that is too high."

When asked about this, ramamurthy said that power psus could not be given the controlling stakes in the petronet.

As ntpc was a bulk consumer it would be given weightage for equity participation, but it would depend on availability of shares, he added.

Ramamurthy clarified that no power psu was permitted directly to import lng and such imports had to be routed through oil psus. On its part, petroleum ministry had committed in april this year to provide liquid fuel for power generators for a fresh capacity of 12,000 mw, he said.

When contacted, ntpc chairman rajender singh said that the corporation had sent a formal proposal to petronet for 26 per cent stake in october but there was no response to it.

After accounting for 50 per cent stake in favour of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), India Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Gas Authority of India (GAIL), theremaining shares were proposed to be distributed among the financial institutions, bulk consumers and public.

In this context, ntpc was offered ten per cent stake in the petronet, which is also floating two seperate subsidiaries for cochin and dahej operations, petronet sources said.

For giving a share to ntpc, the four oil companies were reported to be willing to offload 2.5 per cent stake each from their respective 12.5 per cent shareholding.

Rajendra singh said, "we have not yet received any communication from petronet over our demand, adding we would not like to take any equity below 26 per cent."