Ranchi, Oct 6 (IANS): Indian exploration major ONGC said on Tuesday Jharkhand would get Rs.720 crore as royalty for producing coal-bed methane (CBM).
"The company would be drilling 280 wells in North Karanpura, Bokaro and Jharia over an area of 400 square km for mining of CBM. This will help in CBM generation for the next 15-20 years and also provide royalty worth Rs.720 crore to the state government," said ONGC chairman and managing director Dinesh Sarraf during a meeting with Chief Minister Raghubar Das.
"The ONGC team is enthusiastic of the fact that Jharkhand ranks third in the country in the area of ease of doing business," he said.
Pointing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of reducing import of oil and gas in the country by 10 percent, he said: "The company is trying to expedite its projects in the state.
"(An area of) 1.7 acres of land is needed for one CBM well. We hope the state government would provide the land required for the projects," he said.
The chief minister said his government will soon appoint a special nodal officer who would be in regular contact with officials of ONGC and would provide all needed help from the state government.
The state government will also deploy security personnel for the protection of the company's assets, Das said.