Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily informed a panel that
the government would auction exploration area of about 2.7 lakh sq km under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) in 2013-14 once necessary approvals are in place.
The minister informed this to the Parliamentary Consultative Committee in Mussoorie. He said the government initiated the process of inter-ministerial clearances for exploring the 2.7 lakh sq km area, which is identified by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH).
This would be the tenth round of auction under NELP. However, it is not known how many blocks the government would auction in this round. Some reports indicate that as many as 68 blocks or areas for exploration of oil and gas may be auctioned.
This will be the second-highest offering of block since the advent of NELP 1999. Of the blocks being considered for offering in NELP-X, 25 are deep water, 20 shallow water and 23 onland blocks.
The government has in previous nine rounds awarded 254 blocks for exploration of oil and gas. Last few rounds received tepid response with global majors staying away.
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