Unified licensing will be gamechanger in OAL: DGH Atanu Chakraborty

The govt has already got the majority of the clearances required for the current round of auctions

The gamechanger during the current round of open acreage licensing (OAL) hydrocarbon auction will be unified licensing, through which companies can explore shale and coal-bed methane too in the blocks, said Atanu Chakraborty, Director General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), on Thursday. 

"During the current round, six companies have submitted an expression of interest for 55 blocks. I believe that single licence for all the hydrocarbon products (including shale and CBM) is the real game changer during this rounds. This does not mean that India will not go for shale and CBM auctions separately in future," he said. 

The government has already