(HT)
A group of ministers (GoM) is scheduled to meet on Monday to consider privatisation of 97 oil and gas exploration blocks currently held by state-run Oil and Natural gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL), two officials aware of the development said. The GoM, chaired by finance minister Arun Jaitley, will hold its first meeting on February 18 to deliberate proposals of a high-level committee that recommended privatisation of hydrocarbon blocks to ramp up India’s oil and gas output, the government officials said requesting anonymity. Other members of the GoM are ministers of coal, commerce, power, and petroleum, they said.
The GoM was initially scheduled to meet last week, but the meeting was postponed after the Department of Expenditure in the Finance Ministry sought specific details related to revenue implications for the government if these blocks are auctioned to the private companies, one of the officials said. The second official said ONGC and OIL may be asked to initiate the auction process instead of the petroleum ministry inviting the bids, which would avoid unnecessary criticisms that the government is divesting assets of state-run firms at the end of its five-year tenure.
