India to invest in Nigerian oil blocks
India is to invest $ 359 mm in two Nigerian oil blocks, Mr Mahesh Sachdev, the country's High Commissioner to
Nigeria, has said. The two blocks, OPL 279 and OPL 285, are being jointly explored by Indian joint venture company of
ONGC Videsh and Lakshmi Mittal's Mittal Investments Sarl (MIS), known as ONGC Mittal Energy, incorporated in
Cyprus.
The exploration for the blocks, which are located in the Gulf of Guinea, is for five years, from 2007 to 2012.
He said that funding of $ 359 mm to ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm, for the execution of the first exploration
phase in the two Nigerian deepwater blocks, had been endorsed by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). He
added that the budgeted estimates for the first phase of exploration included signature bonus and acquisition
cost.
Also, the envoy said that a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, had been signed between a Mumbai-based consulting and
human resources specialist, Acubes Solutions Plc. Ltd. (ACPL), to offer skills development and enhancement programmes
to graduate students in Nigeria. He said the MoU was signed recently in New Delhi by Nigeria's Minister of Labour and
Productivity, Mr Adetokunbo Kayode, and his Indian counterpart, Mr Mallikarjun Kharge.
Sachdev explained further that the programme had been launched under the employment generation pilot scheme of the
Ministry of Labour and Productivity with the objective of training more than 12,000 students in 2011.
"Based on the success of the pilot project, ASPL will suggest short courses to the Ministry to be offered to graduate
students in Nigeria so that their employment potential would be enhanced considerably, primarily in the IT and
telecom domains," the envoy said.
