India’s hope of attracting foreign companies to bid under Nelp VIII has been marred by the ongoing corporate war between the estranged Ambani brothers and the global economic meltdown, Director General of Hydrocarbons V K Sibal said.
“When you (Ambani brothers) challenge your own laws and show lack of trust in your own policies, it is bound to dissuade others’ interest in our country,” Sibal said on the sidelines of a CII conference on NELP-VIII.
The statement comes after the petroleum ministry received a subdued response for its five road shows held worldwide recently.India has invited bids for 70 oil and gas and 10 coal bed methane blocks from companies all over the world. Before going for the roadshows, the government was expecting to garner nearly $3 billion of investment from the bidders. The bids will close on October 12.
“The slowdown has impacted most of the mid size companies, which used to bid aggressively for our energy blocks earlier,” Sibal added.
However, he pointed out that global majors like Hess Corp, Nobel Corp, BG Group and BP Plc are among those likely to bid for the Indian energy blocks. Around 181 companies had bid for the seventh round of Nelp.
In anticipation of weak response for Nelp this year the government had restored a seven-year income-tax holiday for gas projects to attract more explorers. It also made a three-phase work programme to a single one offering companies more flexibility, and had specified the penalties for incomplete drilling commitments in the new exploration round.
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