Union Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today launched the bid round –III under Open Acreages Licensing Policy (OALP) at Greater Noida, the venue of PETROTECH-2019. Under this Bid round, 23 blocks, covering over 31,000 sq km od area will be available for exploration. Following the contract signing of 55 Blocks under OALP Bid Round-I, the Government launched OALP Bid Round-II on 07th January 2019 offering 14 Blocks under Petroleum Operation Contract for International Competitive Bidding. With the launch of the third bidding round, more than 1,20,000sq km of area has now been made available for exploration in last one year. The OALP adopts all features of HELP - reduced royalty rates, no Oil Cess, uniform licensing system, marketing and pricing freedom, Revenue Sharing Model, Exploration rights on all retained area for full contract life etc.Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pradhan said we recently awarded 55 blocks spread across 10 sedimentary basins under maiden Bid Round after a gap of 6 years and 30 contract areas under the Discovered Small Field Policy Bid Round-I. The 2nd Bid Rounds for both Discovered Small Field Policy and Open Acreages Licensing Policy are now underway and have also seen encouraging response from investors.The overwhelming participation from investors is a testimony to their faith and confidence in India’s upstream sector potential. He invited the investors to participate in the bidding round and be a part of the Indian growth story.