Less than a week after the Modi 2.0 government took charge, a Group of Ministers (GoM) got into a huddle with Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday to discuss important trade and economic issues, particularly in the petroleum sector.

Though no official statement was made, sources told BusinessLine the meeting, convened at the Home Ministry office, was attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, among others.

Besides discussing challenges faced by India following recent trade decisions taken by the US , the policy makers also debated the final investment decision (FID) on the multi-billion dollar Mozambique LNG project.

ONGC has a participating interest in the Mozambique Rovuma Area-1 Offshore Project through its overseas subsidiary, ONGC Videsh, while BPCL has a stake in it through Bharat PetroResources Ltd (BPRL).

Cabinet approval

Officials said the decision taken at the GoM meeting will soon be approved by the Cabinet. The Mozambique government had said an FID announcement on the project would be made on June 18.

BusinessLine had reported last December that the FID would be taken in the first half of calendar 2019.

ONGC Videsh presently holds a 16 per cent interest in the Mozambique Rovuma project, of which a 10 per cent participating interest (PI) is held directly by ONGC Videsh and another 6 per cent through its 60 per cent shareholding in Beas Rovuma Energy Mozambique Ltd (BREML). The remaining 40 per cent stake in BREML is held by Oil India Ltd.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation is the operator of this project with a 26.5 per cent PI.

The other partners include Mitsui (20 per cent), ENH (15 per cent), BPRL (10 per cent) and PTTEP (8.5 per cent).

The FID has been delayed by over six months. First gas production from the project is expected to start within 36-48 months after the approval — in 2022-23.

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