Woes14 Nov 2018 10:58
Bailing out GSPC
In August 2017, ONGC was made to acquire all of the 80% stake of the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, owned by the Gujarat government, in a gas block of the Krishna Godavarari basin, off shore in Bay of Bengal, for nearly Rs 8,000 crore.
For this, ONGC paid around Rs 7,480 crore in 2017-’18, according to its website
The field was auctioned during 2003 under the erstwhile New Exploration Licensing Policy, which has now been replaced by the Hyrdrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy approved in March 2016. In 2005, the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation that the Krishna Godavarari basin block was the discovery of the century for India.
However, the block did not see any commercial production even by late 2015. The Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation has debt of Rs 19,576 crore, for which they pay interest of Rs 1,804.06 crore per year.
So, buying the block from is nothing but a losing proposition for ONGC