India taps newcomers to unlock oil and gas assets

New Delhi

INDIA approved awarding rights for 31 small discovered oil and gas fields in its first auction in six years, entrusting most of these to new entrants as it seeks to boost local production.

Sun Petrochemicals Pvt, a privately owned company formed by the directors of drugmaker Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd, and engineering company Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd were among 15 new entrants out of 22 companies that have received rights to develop the fields, according to a government statement. Established players, including Hindustan Oil Exploration Co and state-run Oil India Ltd, also won some fields.