India on Monday lost the ONGC Videsh Ltd-discovered Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf after Iran awarded a contract to develop the field to a local company.

“The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has signed a contract worth $1.78 billion with Petropars Group for the development of Farzad B Gas Field in the Persian Gulf,” the Iranian oil ministry’s official news service Shana reported.

“The deal was signed on Monday, May 17, in a ceremony held in the presence of the Iranian minister of petroleum Bijan Zangeneh in Tehran.”

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas investment arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corp, had in 2008 discovered a giant gas field in the Farsi offshore exploration block. OVL and its partners had offered to invest up to $11 billion for the development of the discovery, which was later named Farzad-B.

The NIOC had informed OVL of its intention to conclude the contract for Farzad-B development with an Iranian company in an apparent rejection of the Indian firm’s bid. After this, it kept sitting on OVL’s investment proposal for years.