Thirty-nine cos bid for oil and gas contracts; Vedanta tops with 21 offers

Five PSUs, 28 private companies and six foreign players enter fray; ONGC, Oil India, Sun Petro among other major contenders

The second round of discovered small field (DSF-II) auctions for 25 oil and gas contract areas received bids from 39 companies. Billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta submitted a maximum number of bids for 21 areas on offer.   

The 39 companies include five public sector undertakings, 28 private companies and six foreign players. This round of bids saw more than anticipated participation from new entrants from India and from the US, UK, Australia, Singapore and UAE. The other major companies in the fray included state-run Oil and Natural Corporation and Oil India both bidding for 10 blocks each. Dilip Shanghvi’s Sun Petrochemicals,