The Supreme Court on Friday referred the Krishna-Godavari basin gas dispute involving Reliance Industries and the Centre for mediation after the parties failed to reach a viable settlement. The court appointed former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai as mediator in the matter.

The referral followed several adjournments sought by the parties to explore a negotiated resolution. The court also asked the mediator to receive assistance from two domain experts, who may be suggested by the parties.

Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, assured the court that the government would extend full cooperation to the mediation process. The matter was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Baghchi and V Mohana.

The court was considering appeals filed by Reliance Industries, BP Exploration (Alpha) and Niko against a Delhi High Court judgment. That judgment had set aside an arbitral award passed in favour of the companies in their gas migration dispute with the Centre.

The dispute centres on allegations that natural gas migrated from an adjoining block operated by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation into a block operated by Reliance Industries in the KG basin, where it was subsequently extracted. In May, the Supreme Court had rejected a request by Reliance Industries to defer the hearing after the company and its two foreign partners sought mediation or conciliation with the Centre. The latest order formally moves the dispute into a court-backed mediation process while the parties work towards an amicable settlement.