India’s government has begun the process of evaluating the prospects of an ambitious plan that aims to merge 13 state oil firms to create a giant corporation that is expected to have a bigger market value than Russia’s state oil giant Rosneft and India’s Reliance Industries Ltd.

The Petroleum Ministry has conveyed to the Ministry of External Affairs that the Indian consortium comprising Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Oil India Limited (OIL) has 'unanimously' decided not to sign the concession agreement for two offshore oil exploration blocks.