Vedanta invited bids for all 28 closed blocks

BUSINESS: India’s biggest oil and gas tender attracted four bidders, including state-run firms ONGC and OIL and private sector Vedanta Ltd, while most blocks received only two bids, according to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). In the OALP-IX bidding round, in which 28 blocks or areas of over 1.36 lakh sq km were offered for exploration and production of oil and gas, a consortium of Reliance Industries Ltd and BP PLC submitted a bid for a block for the first time. The Gujarat offshore tender was held in collaboration with ONGC.

For which it had bid in the previous round and this is the first time that it has joined it. ONGC joined hands with ONGC to bid for a shallow water block in the Gujarat-Saurashtra basin proposal. In the previous eighth round of the Open Area Licensing Policy (OALP-VIII), state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) had not applied for the ultra-deep block in the Krishna-Godavari basin sought by the Reliance-BP combine.