However, Malaysia's Petronas, Royal/Dutch Shell and Yemen LNG have had their bids approved.

Together with Reliance Industries' 4.14 billion cubic metres of natural gas, the approved firms will now supply the three million tonnes of LNG a year - for 17 years - to NTPC's Kawas and Gandhar power projects in Gujarat state.

Those who missed out on the lucrative contract include big names like Oman LNG, Qatar's RasGas, Total, Unocal and BP. According to industry sources, these firms did not put in the technical and price bid at the close of tenders on Tuesday. In the case of the BG Group, it had not furnished the US$4 million bid security, which automatically led to its disqualification.

NTPC had sought two separate bids for the supply of three million tonnes of imported LNG - or 4.14 billion cubic metres of natural gas from domestic fields - to fire the two power projects, which are being expanded from 650 MW to 2,000 MW each, and for the regassification of imported LNG.