Saturday, October 16, 2010

Govt to auction 34 oil & gas blocks

NEW DELHI: Oil minister Murli Deora on Friday launched the government's ninth round of exploration acreage auction to hawk 34 concessions , nearly half of which are recycled from the previous round. But unlike the earlier round, there will be no seven-year tax holiday this time, a fact that may dampen investor sentiment.

"We got an investment commitment of over $1 billion in the eighth round. This time, we expect to do at least that and even better. We anticipate better response as the last auction was held when world economies were in recession," petroleum secretary S Sundareshan said.

Sundareshan said the absence of the 7-year holiday in present round would not impact investors. "The issue with investors is ambiguity. There is none in this round," he added . The Direct Tax Code, to be implemented from April 2012, will do away with profit-linked incentives for all sectors. Instead, an investment-linked incentive will be available.

Read more: Govt to auction 34 oil & gas blocks - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Govt-to-auction-34-oil-gas-blocks/articleshow/6757322.cms#ixzz12WeEYq00

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