Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, who is on a two-day visit to the South-East Asian nation, pushed for increased collaboration with Vietnam in energy, mining and infrastructure sectors.

"More than $5 billion (investments) are in the pipeline. Potential could be much more given the strength Vietnam has," he said here.

"We are dependent on imports for coal, oil and natural gas," he said highlighting offshore and onshore drilling as potential areas for enhancing investments.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp's overseas arm ONGC Videsh accounts for much of India's investment in Vietnam. It has 45% stake in one gas field —- Block 06.1 in the Nam Con Son basin off Vietnam's south coast -— in a joint venture with TNK-BP and PetroVietnam.

It won a contact in 2006 to jointly explore with PetroVietnam in Blocks 127 and 128 in the Phu Khanh basin further north.

New Delhi has pledged to continue exploring for energy as Blocks 127 and 128 were in Vietnamese territorial waters.

Source: Business Standard