The New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) will be revamped before launching the next round of oil & gas blocks' auction to attract global energy giants, Petroleum Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said.

India's previous nine rounds of oil & gas block auctions under the NELP failed to attract global energy giants due to issues like tight government controlling on pricing, quantities to be sold to buyers nominated by it, as well as long delays in receiving approvals.

Inaugurating the oil & gas conference Petrotech-2012, Reddy also said that they would go for the 10th round of oil & gas block auctions quite early.

Speaking on the topic, Reddy said, "We will go for the 10th round quite early. Before the next round, we want to put in place a more investor friendly system, both for investment and pricing."

The recommendations on revamp of the exploration policy and terms of contracts signed between companies and the government will soon be submitted by a committee headed by C. Rangarajan - chairman of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC).

The Rangarajan committee will also made recommendations on structure and elements of guidelines for deciding formula for the domestically produced gas' price and for monitoring actual fixation of prices.

Under NELP, which was initiated by the government in 1999 to provide a boost to oil & gas exploration in the country, the government awards the rights to companies to explore blocks via a bidding process.