- NEW DELHI: Cairn Energy has formally approached Indian government for its approval on sale of a majority stake in the UK-based company’s Indian unit to Vedanta Resources, a senior oil ministry official said on Monday.
“We have received letters from Cairn and we are examining them. We will decide (on it) in due course,” said the official.
On Sept. 9, the company wrote separate letters to the Indian oil ministry for specific approvals on seven exploration blocks Cairn India had won under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) rounds and concurrence in case of three producing properties that were awarded to it prior to NELP, including the giant Rajasthan oilfield.
Vedanta, on its part, attached a summary of the deal where Cairn Energy is selling a 40-51 percent stake in its Indian arm to Vedanta Resources Group for up to $8.48 billion.
The proposed deal involves sale of shares in Cairn India and “there will be no change in the parties holding the participating interests under the Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs)”, said Cairn chief executive Bill Gammell.