CCI to clear most of oil and gas blocks in two weeks: Montek
The government is likely to clear in next two weeks several of 39 oil and gas fields that are stuck for want of defence clearance, said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
The recently constituted Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) late last month considered Defence Ministry declaring 7 blocks including Reliance Industries' KG-D6 gas block and its gas discovery area NEC-25 as 'No-Go' area and stringent conditions being imposed on exploring in another 32 blocks.
"Meeting of the CCI took place (on January 30)... I am not sure about all the oil blocks (but) some of the blocks were looked at. I am hopeful that within two weeks or so, several of those would be cleared," Ahluwalia told PTI in an interview.
CCI had asked the ministries of defence and oil to sort out issues like exploration area overlapping with proposed Naval base or being close to missile launching and Air Force exercise area, within one month.
The panel, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is to then consider giving the blocks go-ahead for oil and gas exploration and production.
"In the boom time, the day we announce CCI, everybody would have said that yes this is happening. Today until those things are actually cleared people will not believe. That is the issue. I am hoping that in the next few weeks we will see some action", he added.
Officials from ministries of defence and petroleum have sorted out issues at majority of the 39 blocks.
Defence Ministry has declared 7 blocks including RIL's KG-D6, which
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