Taking away oilfield will be ONGC’s ‘systematic weakening’: Ex-bureaucrat

The Oil Ministry’s proposal to strip ONGC of its main oil and gas producing fields of Mumbai High and Bassein in the western offshore is a “systematic weakening” of the state-owned firm, well-regarded former bureaucrat E A S Sarma has written to the Prime Minister.

In the letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former secretary to the government of India, said instead of “weakening” ONGC, the government should adopt a conscious strategy to strengthen its ability and should be given sufficient functional autonomy instead of forcing it to buy debt-laden firms or pay high dividends.