A leading engineering and construction player has emerged as the potential front runner for Oil & Natural Gas Corporation’s Daman upside gas development (DUDP) offshore India’s western coast.

The Indian state-owned giant operates multiple oil and gas fields and has plans to spend upwards of $11 billion on the maintenance and expansion of some of its largest offshore assets across the country’s eastern and western coasts.

The Daman gas project is crucial to ONGC’s strategy to boost gas production from the west coast, where most fields are maturing and facing natural decline.