India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. will acquire Imperial Energy for £1.4 billion ($2.58 billion), Bloomberg News reports.

The cash offer of 1,250 pence a share from India's biggest exploration company is 61.9% more than Imperial Energy's share price on July 11, the day before the London-based company said it received a bid, according to a statement distributed by Regulatory News Service. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. indicated today it may bid for Imperial Energy.

India's explorers have been outbid by Chinese rivals as the two most populous nations compete for energy assets globally. The South Asian nation is looking to invest in oil projects in Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran and Africa as the government expects economic growth to accelerate to as much as 10% by 2012, fueling demand for vehicles and electricity. India imports more than three-quarters of its oil requirements.

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