NEW DELHI: The oil and gas industry is hopeful that the budget may treat natural gas on a par with crude oil for tax exemption, which could revive investors' interest in future auction of oil blocks, but it does not see any strong commitment from the government on this matter.

"We can only hope, but the finance ministry is adamant that the matter, which is sub judice in various IT appellate tribunals, cannot be resolved through the Finance Bill," a senior executive in an upstream firm said requesting anonymity.