Mittal may bid for oil & gas blocks

Lakshmi Mittal is considering bidding for oil and gas blocks in the forthcoming auction under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP).

Mittal also wants to transfer the Kazakhstan oil assets he acquired from Russia's Lukoil to his joint venture partner ONGC Videsh.

"We are interested in oil and gas exploration, as well as the refinery and petrochemical business in India. We haven't yet seen the blocks on offer in NELP-VII (but) we will certainly consider bidding," ArcelorMittal Executive Vice-President Sudhir Maheshwari told journalists.

"We can do it ourselves," Maheshwari said, when asked if the company would look for a partner to bid in the NELP-VII round, to be announced next month. It's expected that about 65 blocks would be on offer in the seventh round of bidding.