RIL, BP to invest Rs. 800 cr in Tamil Nadu.

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), along with its partner British Petroleum (BP), plans to invest about Rs. 800 crore to carry out exploratory drilling in an offshore block in the Bay of Bengal, off the Tamil Nadu coast. The Mukesh Ambani-led company is the operator of the offshore block CY-DWN-2001/2, also known as CY-III-D5, with 70 per cent equity, while BP holds the remaining stake. Thus, of the total Rs. 800-crore investment, BP's contribution would be Rs. 240 crore.

The block is off the east coast of India between Puducherry and Karaikal off Tamil Nadu. The deep-water block covers an area of around 10,655 sq km with its nearest boundary about 22 km from the shore.

BS