The two Andaman blocks are among 24 that were opened up for exploration as part of the government's new policy to auction prospective fields to private, foreign and domestic, exploration firms.
The Andamans had so far been kept out of the previous three rounds of auctioning due to opposition from the defence ministry, which had opposed allowing foreign firms to operate in the area that overlooks the Malacca Straits, a key East-West sea route.
However, the Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has said the archipelago has very high potential of gas finds and could boost India's domestic gas production, which at present is around 29 billion cubic metres.
Of the 24 blocks on offer about a dozen are deep sea, a new area of focus that gave the decade's biggest gas find to Reliance off the Andhra coast.
Out of the remaining blocks, 11 are onland and one shallow water. The 11 onland blocks are in Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Tripura (one each), Tamil Nadu (2) and Gujarat (3).The 12 deep-water blocks are both on the east (8 blocks) and west coasts (4 blocks). The lone shallow water block is located on the east coast.
