The contracts were awarded to the US-based Transocean and Dolphin and is for the hired of deep-sea drilling and oil-producing equipment. It is part of ONGC's strategy to earn Rs 644,000 crore, from the investment, which is equivalent to 10 Union budgets, over the next 25-30 years.

The Rs 3,600 crore will be spent over three years and ONGC will pay US$361,762 a day to Dolphin whilst Transocean will receive US$336,906 per day. The fees are inclusive of integrated management services that the companies will in consortia with Tidewater and Schlumberger, respectively.

ONGC's director of exploration, Y.B. Sinha, believes that with this new investment, the company's current annual crude oil production of 26 million tonnes can almost double by 2011 or 2012. He expects that, by 2016 or 2017, this figure could reach as high as 62 million tonnes.