Chennai, March 20 (IANS) The Indian government will soon invite bids for exploration of oil and gas blocks under the ninth round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-IX), Petroelum and Natural Gas Secretary S. Sundareshan said here Saturday.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, at a meeting in New Delhi chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday, approved the award of 33 blocks for oil and gas exploration under the eighth round of the NELP.

'The response is better than whant countries like Norway got for their auctions. We decided to proceed with the auction despite the global recession,' told reporters.

The government had received 76 bids for 36 of the 70 oil and gas blocks offered in the 8th round. Three blocks were not awarded.