The government has decided to proceed with the next step of the eighth round of auction of oil and gas blocks under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (Nelp) and open the data room for prospective bidders on May 20.
“We will open the data room across the world for firms participating in Nelp VIII on May 20,” said V K Sibal, director general at the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).
He also said there was no confusion on the issue of tax holiday for production of natural gas.
“The issue on tax is clear and tax will be levied. We are optimistic that we will receive good number of bids. Even without clarity on the issue, we got 80 bids last year,” Sibal added.
Earlier, firms engaged in production of oil and gas were eligible for an income-tax holiday for seven consecutive years. This, however, was changed in the Union Budget of 2008-09, when the finance ministry declared that tax holiday was only for crude oil production and not natural gas.
“We will try to obtain a decision of the (new) government on this (tax) matter. If there’s no decision then we will go ahead with what we have,” said Petroleum Secretary RS Pandey.
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Fearing that lack of clarity on taxation would affect participatory interest in Nelp VIII, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had deferred the road shows, starting April 20, on India’s biggest auction ever of 70 oil and gas blocks.
The DGH is optimistic that Nelp VIII will see successful round of bidding despite the grim economic situation across the world.