The petroleum ministry has extended the last date for submission of bids under the 7th round of the New Exploration & Licensing Policy (NELP-VII) to June 30. This is the third time that this date has been extended from the original April 11, 2008.
While the ministry has maintained that the revised deadline will give more time for prospective bidders to finalise their bidding strategy, industry sources believe that the extension is meant to provide the ministry more time to resolve the tax holiday issue.
When the NELP was launched in December last year, bidders were eligible for tax concessions under Section 80 IB(9). These benefits were withdrawn in Budget 2008-09 announced in February.