Tripathi believes PSUs will always need help abroad
Oil secretary Sushil Tripathi believes state-owned oil companies will always need government help abroad.
On their own they wont get anything, Tripathi tells us. They will only get exploration blocks here and there.
More than that they wont get anything. They cannot negotiate beyond a point.
Whatever they have is because of government support: Sakhalin, Sudan and Vietnam. Without government support they only get exploration blocks.
And anyway they are not so famous in discoveries. Their track record in discovering hydrocarbons in India and outside is worse than multinationals.
Even when they are given an exploration asset, they dont find anything. Why should any country give them an asset in preference to large MNCs or Chinese companies They get high-risk exploration assets, but any worthwhile asset, why should it not be given to major companies or the Chinese Why should it be given to Indian companies