Bidding for CBM to be completed in 4 months, Deora

New Delhi, Mar 3 (UNI) Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora today assured that the entire bidding process including bid evaluation, award and contract signing would be completed within four months from the date for receiving bids for blocks offered under the third round of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Policy.

Speaking at the first road show to showcase the 10 CBM-III blocks, Mr Deora, told representatives of various companies that the Government would pro-actively facilitate investments in the CBM as well as the entire hydrocarbon sector.

He informed that interaction with the State Governments and other Union Ministries such as the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Ministry of Defence have already started on a continuous basis to get licences and clearances expedited.

Inviting the companies both from India and abroad to participate in the current offer, the Minister said from the 16 contracts signed for exploration and production of CBM in the country, 6 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of in-place gas reserves have been established so far.

The first commercial production is expected in 2007. In this backdrop, the blocks under the CBM-III hold good prospects for CBM reserves. CBM-III offers 10 blocks -- two each falling in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and one each in Jharkhand and West Bengal for exploration and production of CBM.

Referring to the investment-friendly policy regime, Mr Deora said consultations were carried out with various stakeholders to improve bidding terms and bidding evaluation criteria. ''For the first time for CBM we have made public all the details of the quantitative bid evaluation criteria,'' he added.

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