India is offering 26 oil and gas blocks and 16 coal bed methane blocks in its latest exploration licensing round, according to the country's upstream regulator, as the world's third largest oil consumer seeks to boost local output.
"There is an unprecedented interest in Indian exploration and production by global oil companies," oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted on Oct. 11 after a roadshow in Houston in the United States.
India, also the world's third biggest oil importer, ships in about 84% of its oil needs from overseas and wants to quickly monetize its oil and gas reserves to cut its import bill.