By IANS,
New Delhi : The petroleum and natural gas ministry has begun the process of establishing a National Data Repository, which is required for introducing an open acreage licensing policy for hydrocarbon assets, parliament was informed Thursday.
“Action has been initiated to establish the National Data Repository (NDR), which is a pre-requisite for formulation of Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP),” Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
He added that the OALP had not been notified so far.
Under the open acreage scheme, exploration companies can choose a block and approach the government, which will then invite bids for that block and award it to the highest bidder.