Govt to launch oil block auctions in FY11: Official

The government is likely to launch the next round of auctions for oil and gas block exploration in the current financial year ending March 2011, a senior government official said on Thursday.

The government has a new exploration licensing policy in place to facilitate exploration of oil and gas resources.

"We have already initiated the process. Typically it takes four to six months to launch the auction," said RK Sinha, production adviser to the directorate-general of hydrocarbons.

India has so far completed eight rounds of auctions for oil and gas exploration.