BG India plans to invest $1 bn in Oil exploration

Mumbai: BG India, part of the British Gas group, plans to invest $1 billion (about Rs 4,000 crore) in the exploration business in the next two to three years, according to a top company executive.

'We have firm plans to invest $1 billion in exploration in India. We are into the full gas chain, both upstream and downstream, and our intent would be to expand in India,' BG India Managing Director Kapil Garg said on the sidelines of a conference to inaugurate British Gas Petroleum Geosciences Lab at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Powai.

British Gas has funded the geosciences lab at IIT in Mumbai to facilitate high quality research in the field of oil exploration.

India is one of the BG Group's six core geographic areas of operation. BG India is responsible for managing and developing the upstream and downstream interests of the BG Group in India.

It is the largest investing foreign company in the Indian oil and gas sector, having invested approximately $900 million to date. 'We have a presence in the west and east coast in oil exploration activities,' Garg said.

India needs an investment of nearly $300 billion for exploration of hydrocarbon.