India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has launched a national data repository and open acreage licensing programme.
The launch, in line with the government’s Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy, was announced in New Delhi by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
It is part of “historic reforms” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Pradhan at the event.
He said that due to “not so encouraging” experiences of the past, the Modi Ministry have decided to have a new policy in place of incremental policy changes.
Pradhan added: “We are committed to liberalize the sector by simplifying processes, increasing market access and bringing developments in the technology domain.
“I am hopeful that the two exploration reforms of national data repository and open acreage licensing launched today would facilitate investment in upstream sector in India.”
Investors will be able to submit an expression of interest from July 1.