Finally overruling strident opposition, the Indian government has approved taking away smaller discovered oil and natural gas blocks of its national oil exploration and production (E&P) majors and allocating them to private investors through auctions. The move, criticised by a section in government and State-run companies as asset stripping of national oil companies, was approved by an inter-Ministerial Group of Ministers (GoM) based on recommendations of government policy advisory body NITI Aayog (National Institute for Transformation of India Commission).
