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New Delhi , May 4

AFTER empowering the board of directors of ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) for approving overseas projects involving investments up to $70 million or Rs 300 crore, whichever is less, the Government is now considering giving similar powers to the boards of IOC and Oil India Ltd for projects jointly undertaken by them.

The Petroleum Minister, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, said: "To strengthen competitiveness in initiatives for sourcing oil and gas from abroad, the OVL board has been given this power."

He added: "For investment decisions above this limit in exploration and production projects overseas, OVL is required to secure Government approval through the Empowered Committee of Secretaries of the Ministries of Petroleum, Finance, External Affairs, Planning Commission, Department of Legal Affairs and Public Enterprises."

The public sector enterprises are governed by the general guidelines regarding autonomy laid down by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE).

Under the existing guidelines, the `navratna' oil PSUs - ONGC, GAIL, IOC, HPCL, and BPCL - have been delegated powers to inter alia incur capital expenditure without any monetary ceiling, to enter into technology joint ventures, strategic alliances, for organisational restructuring, to create and wind up board-level posts, and raise capital from domestic and international markets.

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