Cairn India gets govt nod for oil delivery point

MUMBAI, May 2 (Reuters) - Oil explorer Cairn India Ltd (CAIL.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the Indian unit of Britain's Cairn Energy Plc (CNE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said it had received agreement from the Indian government to deliver its crude oil to Salaya in western India.

Cairn, which struck oil in Mangala, its biggest field, in the desert state of Rajasthan in 2004, will start production from that field in the second half of 2009, it said in a statement to the stock market on Thursday. May 1 was a local holiday.

Cairn India CEO Rahul Dhir told Reuters on Tuesday the company had received government approval to start production from Bhagyam, its second-biggest field, in the first half of 2010.

Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy was transformed by the discovery of billions of barrels of oil in its Rajasthan block, propelling it from obscurity into the FTSE 100 index .FTSE.

Dhir also said the company was still waiting for government approval on recovering construction costs of about $800 million for a pipeline to transport crude from the Rajasthan fields, by reducing the government's share of future oil sales. (Reporting by Hiral Vora; Editing by Charlotte Cooper)