Government extends deadline for oilfield auctions

18 May 2023 CW Team

The Indian government has extended the deadline for bid submission in the eighth round of oilfield auctions to 5 July 2023. This is yet another extension for the auction, which was launched on 7 July 2022.

The government has also extended the deadline for the special coal bed methane (CBM) bid round to 30 June 2023. The CBM round was launched on 10 October 2022.

The government has also approved several modifications to the bid documents of the eighth bidding round. The new rules permit companies to carve out larger blocks, modify bid evaluation criteria and incentivise early monetisation of discoveries.

The modifications to the bid documents are aimed at attracting more companies to participate in the auction and to ensure that the government gets the best possible value for its oil and gas assets.

The eighth round of oilfield auctions will offer 57 oil and gas blocks for exploration and production. The blocks are located in a variety of sedimentary basins across the country.

The government is hoping that the auction will help to boost domestic oil and gas production and reduce the country's dependence on imports.

The auction is expected to be keenly contested by both Indian and international companies. The government is confident that the auction will be a success and that it will achieve its objectives.

Infrastructure Transport

12 Mar 2026

Kavach 4.0 Commissioned on Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah

"Kavach version four has been commissioned on 1,452 route km, covering the high density Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah corridors. The rollout included laying 8,570 km of optical fibre, installation of 1,100 telecom towers, deployment of trackside equipment over 6,776 RKm and establishment of 767 station data centres. Trackside implementation has been taken up on 24,427 RKm covering Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal and High Density Network sections. The programme aims to strengthen signalling and train protection on key routes.Kavach is an indigenously developed automatic train protecti..

Railways Advance Kalyan–Murbad Line And Mumbai Capacity Expansion

"Indian Railways is advancing multiple rail infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, including the sanctioned Kalyan–Murbad new line and sizable investments under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project. The Kalyan–Murbad 28 km new line has been sanctioned at Rs 8.36 billion (bn) on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis with the Government of Maharashtra and has been declared a Special Railway Project for land acquisition; proposals covering 214 hectares are at various stages of acquisition. Budgetary outlay for projects falling fully or partly in Maharash..

Parliamentary Panel Flags Funding Gaps in Heavy Industries

"The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry (Rajya Sabha) presented its 332nd report on the Demands for Grants 2026-27 of the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Figures converted from crore and lakh are expressed in million (mn). The Budget Estimates 2026-27 for the Ministry stand at Rs 79,399 mn against a projected requirement of Rs 94,843.2 mn, a shortfall of about 16 per cent, with revenue at Rs 79,370.8 mn and capital compressed to Rs 28.2 mn from Rs 5,020 mn.The committee flagged recurring BE-to-RE compression and declining revised estimate utilisation, and calle..