Friday, January 13 2006 20:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar who is here to forge a strategic tie up with China in the hydrocarbons sector, today said 'aggressive' bidding between the two Asian giants in acquiring foreign assets have cost Beijing billions of dollars extra.

Since both India and China are net energy importing nations, it is hardly surprising that almost everywhere in the world that an Indian goes in quest of energy, chances are that he will run into a Chinese engaged in the same hunt, Aiyar said.

"The Chinese hunter has been rather more successful than the Indian on several occasions in the recent past," he said recalling successful bids by Chinese oil giants over their Indian counterparts in countries like Kazakhstan.

"But the fact is that aggressive bidding by either party only pushes up the price of the asset to the advantage of the seller and the disadvantage of both bidders," he said emphasising that India does not view China as a strategic competitor but as a strategic partner.

"In the end, whether the winner is China or India, the buyer ends up paying more and sometimes substantially more, than might have been the case if bidding against each other had been replaced, or at least moderated, by prior consultation," he said.

In the last two years, owing to aggressive India-China competition, Beijing has ended up paying several hundred million dollars and possibly well over a billion dollars more to the seller than it would have paid as a result of aggressive bidding against each other, Aiyar said.