ONGC's payment to OIDB is mandatory and the corporation for the first seven months of the current fiscal had already paid about Rs 1,260 crore to the development board, the sources said.

They said the amount paid by the corporation to OIDB would be used by the board for development of the oil sector on the whole and it was mandatory on the part of all the oil companies to pay the cess.

ONGC had during the last financial year paid about Rs 2,370 crore to OIDB based on its total crude production of 26 million tonnes. The corporation in turn could also take soft loans from OIDB for carrying out various exploratory works in thecountry, the sources said.

ONGC had taken a loan of Rs 170 crore from OIDB for carrying out exploratory works with a very low rate of interest, the sources said. Meanwhile, the corporation had also taken up with the Oil Coordination Committee (OCC) the issue of settling its dues which is estimated to be to the tune of Rs 1,100 crore.

OCC had so far issued bonds worth about Rs 3,122 crore to ONGC, they said and hoped that the remaining dues would also be cleared at the earliest.ONGC, which posted a net profit of Rs 2,754.5 crore during 1998-99, is the only major oil exploration and production company in India supplying most of the crude and gas to the various marketing companies.

The corp oration is also working out a massive rehabilitation programme to revive the Bombay High offshore basins in a bid to arrest the declining crude production from the well.

ONGC would be paying more towards the OIDB once its crude production increases, the sources said. The corporation has been witnessing a fall in itscrude oil production since last financial year. The company produced 24.45 million tonnes of crude oil in 1998-99 as against 26.27 million tonnes the previous year.