India Ready To Incentivise Operational Costs To Woo Foreign Investments In E&P: Hardeep Puri

As India is expected to account for 25% of the global increase in oil and gas demand over the next two decades, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said there was no option but to incentivise the foreign and domestic exploration and production companies looking to invest in India.

For a country whose increase in demand is now established by the International Energy Agency, there is no option but to increase the E&P area and incentivise the E&P investors, Puri said in response to a question from NDTV Profit on lack of interest by foreign players in the E&P space.

Puri said the ministry was willing to fund the operational costs incurred by the E&P investors in the Andaman Sea and the new areas that are being opened up. "There are costs to be incurred by the foreign investors, we are willing to finance that operation, particularly in stratigraphic wells."

He underscored with the new draft bills being enacted into law, a data repository centre that is being set up in Texas and an additional 1 million square kilometres that had been opened up for foreign investments have regenerated the foreign interests in the Indian blocks.

To mitigate the operational and financial risks, the ministry has also offered foreign investors to come as technical partners like BP Plc for ONGC and Petrobras for Oil India, where they will be paid for the technical work and will have the first right of refusal in case of oil discoveries. "This is a win-win for both the Indian as well as foreign players," Singh noted.