The government has cleared a bulk of the 52 oil and gas blocks that were stuck for want of defence and environmental clearances. Talking to reporters at the Petrotech 2012 Conference in New Delhi today, Oil Secretary G C Chaturvedi said that a high level committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary and comprising of officials of ministries such as defence and environment, has been set up to give clearance for exploration blocks.

He added that the panel takes up clearances of blocks that have been pending for a long time. The government had in nine rounds of New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP), since 1999, awarded 254 blocks to domestic and overseas explorers. Of these, 52 blocks are stuck for want of clearances, hurting the nation's plan to expedite exploration of oil and gas to cut its ballooning import bill.