India’s open-acreage round draws 110 bids

May 3, 2018
Nine companies submitted a total of 110 electronic bids for 55 blocks offered in India’s first open-acreage licensing round, which had been extended by a month.

Nine companies submitted a total of 110 electronic bids for 55 blocks offered in India’s first open-acreage licensing round, which had been extended by a month (OGJ Online, Mar. 23, 2018).

Five of the companies are owned by the Indian government. The others are private Indian companies, including Vedanta Resources, which is based in London and bid on every block on offer.

Bidding alone and in groups, the companies made 92 bids for 46 onshore blocks and 18 bids for 9 offshore blocks, all nominated by prospective bidders.

All but two blocks received two or more bids.

The number of blocks by basin are Assam-Arakan, 19; Cambay, 11; Rajasthan, 9; Krishna-Godavari, 5; Cauvery, 3; Mumbai Offshore, Kutch, and Saurashtra, 2 each; and Foreland and Ganga, 1 each.

The government plans to award the licenses, which are based on revenue-sharing, by June.