First right of refusal may be limited to firms working under NELP, leaving out pre-NELP blocks run by big firms such as RIL and Cairn India.
The companies want to drill exploration wells in already producing oil and gas fields.
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The Oil Ministry, which had been sitting on the proposal for over a year, wrote to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons earlier this week saying that it has been decided to permit exploration in already producing oil and gas fields, sources privy to the development said.
Reliance Industries and Cairn India want to drill exploration wells in already producing oil and gas fields, but the ministry's technical arm DGH had previously opined that such activity in an area that is producing hydrocarbons is not permissible under Production-Sharing Contract.
UK-based Diageo's acquisition of 53.4 per cent stake in Vijay Mallya-led United Spirits for Rs 11,166.5 crore ($2 billion) could be the biggest inbound M&A deal so far this year.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices on a public interest suit challenging the role of the central government and state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in the deal between Cairn India and Vedanta Resources.
The consortium has identified a high-value, high-risk prospect at the site.
Net profit in 2012 was $72.6 million, compared with $4.56 billion profit in 2011, Cairn said in a statement.
RIL wants to drill an exploration well on the D1&D3 gas fields in the KG-D6 block, Cairn on the Rajasthan block.
The Home Ministry, while giving the security no-objection certificate (NOC), highlighted eight areas of concern, including 64 legal proceedings against Vedanta and its subsidiaries in various courts, sources privy to the development said.
10 Indian companies are holding as much as Rs 2.34 lakh crore (Rs 2.34 trillion).
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The government is likely to file an appeal against the Cairn arbitration award contesting its sovereign rights to tax, sources said.
In a setback to the Cairn-Vedanta deal, Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium has reaffirmed that the government can impose preconditions like equitable sharing of royalty in the all-important Rajasthan block for clearing Vedanta Resources' takeover of Cairn India.
There are no guesses on how many times the group of ministers will meet before any clarity emerges on the $9.6-billion deal.
Cairn India and UK's BG Group too replied to audit observations.
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According to media reports, CBI is looking into the entire process at the then NDA government and has asked for information from the mines ministry.
The announcement came just ahead of the meeting of a ministerial panel, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, to look into the Cairn-Vedanta deal which was struck in August.
The way the government treated miner Vedanta Resources' proposal to buy majority of UK's Cairn Energy in Cairn India and RIL selling 30 per cent of its stake in 23 properties, including the prolific KG-D6 gas block to BP, goes to the heart of the mistrust between India Inc and United Progressive Alliance-2 in 2011.
A Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukhejree is likely to meet on Monday to vet London-listed mining group Vedanta Resources' $ 9.6 billion acquisition of Cairn India.
A CCEA meeting is scheduled for tomorrow but the approval for the Cairn-Vedanta deal is not listed on its agenda so far.
Oil ministry will move Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs once comments from ministries of finance, law, home, environment and corporate affairs are received.
Refusing to be cowed by pressure being brought on him, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Friday said the decision for mining group Vedanta Resources' $9.6 billion buyout of Cairn India will be taken by the Cabinet without "sacrificing" on national interest.
Oil Ministry is referring the deal to the Cabinet for approval after a standoff between Cairn and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation over the state-owned firm's liability to pay royalty in excess of its 30 per cent share in Cairn's mainstay Rajasthan oilfields.
Cairn Energy Plc chief executive Bill Gammell described the 30-minute meeting as 'positive and constructive'.
Cairn India, which had made four discoveries in the KG-DWN-98/2 block before selling 90 per cent out of its 100 per cent stake in the block to ONGC in 2005, has written to the oil regulator DGH saying the state-owned firm is grossly overstating the reserves in block, sources said.
The company is in talks with BG India and Italian E&P major, ENI.
Though the Prime Minister's Office had earlier this month asked the ministry to decide on giving approvals to the $9.6-billion acquisition on merit, the Oil Ministry has slipped in 11 pre-conditions that are unlikely to be accepted by the London-listed firm.
Company will also launch a global road show from May 23 for the bond placement.
The Vedanta group on Wednesday confirmed putting in a preliminary expression of interest (EoI) for buying the government's stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL).
More than three weeks after it announced the sale of a majority stake in its Indian arm to Vedanta Resources, UK's Cairn Energy Plc has formally applied to the government for approvals, saying it will meet all contractual requirements needed to fructify the deal.
No period in the recent history of Indian oil and gas sector will perhaps leave its long- lasting imprint than 2010 that saw the unfolding of two events that could shape the future of this fast growing sphere.
The government has told Cairn Energy that its deal with Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta Resources will go through only after a formal proposal to the government is made and all clearances are obtained.
Cairn Energy is back to its original image of an explorer, with its prime producing properties in India now going into the Vedanta group kitty.
A day after the government referred its $9.6 billion deal to a panel of ministers; UK's Cairn Energy Plc on Thursday said it has extended the deadline for completion of the sale of a majority stake in its Indian unit to Vedanta Resources by over a month to May 20.
The Vedanta chief also appeared confident that the deal to acquire a majority stake in Cairn India, promoted by Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy Plc, would soon receive the approval of the government.
More than three months after announcing the sale of its up to 51 per cent stake in the Indian unit to Vedanta, Cairn Energy Plc on November 23 last year had made a conditional application to seek government's nod but refused to accept partner ONGC's rights.
After months of dithering, UK's Cairn Energy on November 25 applied for government nod to transfer control in its three producing assets, including the prolific Rajasthan fields to Vedanta Resources.
The Edinburgh-based firm's current application seeking the nod for sale of 40 to 51 per cent in Cairn India, for up to $8.48 billion, has left out three producing properties, including the giant Rajasthan oilfields.
Whereas, the group is offering Cairn India's parent Cairn Energy Rs 405 a share, which includes a fee for not competing with it in India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan for the next three years.
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