MEDIATING IN A CORPORATE WAR

Bury hatchet, PM tells Ambanis Brothers' Feud Over KG Gas Could Hurt Business Climate, Warns Manmohan New Delhi: With the Ambani feud reaching the highest echelons of the government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is learnt to have suggested to the warring brothers that they should make a serious effort to reach a "middle ground'' over the KG gas dispute—in other words, search for an amicable settlement.      Sources in the PMO said Singh had explained to both the brothers that since their businesses were very big now, if one were to keel over—and, indeed, that might be the warriors' wish in a no-holds-barred battle—it would end up hurting the business environment. It was, therefore, important to look for a middle path.      With Anil, the younger of the Ambani siblings, taking his war against Mukesh and petroleum minister Murli Deora to a new level by going public, there is a strong view in the government that the flare-up needs to be capped. The dispute not only figured in parliament during the recently concluded Budget session, but has also dragged senior ministers into its wake.      With the brothers fiercely lobbying the government and working their friends, some of whom are common to both camps, the PM is understood to have taken the view that there is a need to take a neutral and detached view of a very heated and emotional battle. Singh has put the point across on more than one occasion that apart from the specific merits of the Krishna-Godavari gas case, there is a need to get the Ambanis to bury their hatchet.      Sources said Singh had told the brothers that "both of you are now so big'' or words to this effect and made the point that their combat would bloody them and could also disrupt the financial world.      While efforts to get the Ambanis to smoke the peace pipe are yet to make headway, the PM is keen to see RIL and the Anil Ambani group arrive at a resolution of a corporate war that threatens to embroil the government. It is felt that the nature of the dispute is such that it could well spill over to other arenas where the two face off as competitors. "The PM's views on the subject are quite well known,'' said sources.      It is understood that Mukesh Ambani has been unyielding to any suggestion that both sides need to accommodate the other's point of view. RIL has challenged the Bombay HC ruling on the KG gas dispute upholding the validity of the "family MoU'' on the price of gas from the field. Gas row could hurt India's image abroad  New Delhi: After Mukesh Ambani's RIL group challenged the Bombay high court judgement upholding the vailidity of the "family MoU'' on the gas dispute, the government has taken a position before the Supreme Court which has been criticised by the younger Ambani. The public campaign unleashed by Anil has worried a section of the government which feels that the high-stakes corporate tussle is creating an impression of business interests pushing and pulling at the Centre. Comment in foreign newspapers that the dispute had put a focus on how business was done in India and the ability of "Indian oligarchs'' to capture policy has been enough to make the government squirm.      Ever since Anil took his fight to the public fora, first at a meeting of his shareholders which was recorded by TV cameras, and then in a nationwide advertising campaign, disquiet has been growing over whether the battle was slipping out of hand and casting a shadow on the government in terms of whether it was being pummelled by corporate interests and had taken sides. The PM has been keen to dispel the impression and also recognised that a legal solution would not necessarily settle matters. Anil Ambani Manmohan Singh Mukesh Ambani