Newbies bid for small oil fields only to get bogged down in red-tape

24 Sept. 2020-When the first round of auctions for discovered small fields (DSF-I) took place in 2016, the event was described as the entry point for India’s future oil and gas barons. Indeed, promoters and executives from companies in sectors as diverse as steel, power, software, iron ore, textile and education turned up to bid. The newbies included names such as Dilip Shanghvi’s Sun Petrochemicals.

All told, 22 companies won bids for the 31 contracts on offer; 15 were new entrants to the oil and gas business. The contracts for these bids were finally awarded in February 2017.