<p><b>Cairn India employees work at a storage facility for crude oil at Mangala oil field at Barmer in Rajasthan</b></p><p>Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Monday said he views the $9.6 billion Cairn-Vedanta deal royalty issue as cost recoverable.</p><p>Cairn Energy agreed six months ago to sell up to 51% in its Indian unit to Vedanta, but the deal has been delayed as the government looks into the issue of royalty payment.</p><p>Shares in state-run explorer ONGC, which currently pays royalties on the blocks, extended earlier gains to be up 1.4% by 0823 GMT.</p><p>Cairn Energy had said it was hopeful of concluding a long-delayed deal to sell its Indian assets to Vedanta Resources by April 15.</p><p><b>(Pictures by Reuters)</b></p>