India will announce the auctioning of 80-85 oil and gas blocks for exploration and production in the seventh licensing round under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) in the first week of November. Oil regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has carved out 80-85 blocks to be offered for bidding under NELP-VII. The total acreage of the blocks on offer is about 0.4 million square kilometers. Offshore blocks on both east and west coast would be offered, in addition to a few on-land blocks. NELP-VII had been postponed several times. It was originally due in March-April, but the controversy over pricing of gas forced the government to defer it on fear of investors' backlash.