The ₹84,084 crore plan to reduce India's dependence on imported oil

The Union Cabinet on Friday, July 31, approved the ₹84,084 crore 'Samudra Manthan' National Offshore Exploration Scheme, marking one of the government's biggest investments in offshore oil and gas exploration as it looks to strengthen India's energy security and reduce dependence on imports.

The Central Sector scheme, to be implemented until FY31, seeks to accelerate exploration and production in India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) through strategic investments across the offshore exploration value chain.

The approval builds on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of the National Deep Water Exploration Mission, dubbed 'Samudra Manthan', during his Independence Day address in 2025, when he called for unlocking India's offshore hydrocarbon potential as part of the country's energy self-reliance agenda.

What the scheme includes

The scheme provides for large-scale acquisition, processing and interpretation of seismic data, accelerated deep-water and ultra-deep-water exploratory drilling, scientific drilling in frontier basins, development of common offshore production and evacuation infrastructure, and the creation of an integrated Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zone.

It also includes provisions for technology adoption, digital programme management, capacity building and international collaboration to build an integrated offshore exploration ecosystem.

As part of the initiative, around ₹10,000 crore has been earmarked to develop common production and evacuation infrastructure in offshore basins, including stranded discoveries such as those in the Mahanadi and Kutch basins, where high infrastructure costs have delayed commercial production.

Another ₹2,000 crore will support the establishment of an Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zone aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing, engineering, repair and warehousing capabilities for the upstream sector, in line with the government's Make in India initiative.

ONGC already begins drilling

The mission has already begun moving from policy to execution. On July 25, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) spudded its first deep-water exploratory well in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin under the Samudra Manthan campaign.

The well, located off the Odisha coast, marks the start of ONGC's deep-water exploration programme after recent discoveries in the Utkal and Konark blocks strengthened the basin's hydrocarbon potential.

According to ONGC, India's eastern and western offshore basins are estimated to hold more than 5,600 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) of hydrocarbon resources.

Expected impact

According to the government, the scheme is expected to help add more than 600 MMTOE of hydrocarbon reserves while increasing annual domestic production by 10-15 MMTOE, with a peak potential of 20 MMTOE.

The government expects the programme to reduce import dependence through higher domestic production, generate foreign exchange savings, catalyse investments across exploration and manufacturing, strengthen indigenous capabilities, create employment across exploration and production activities, and support long-term economic growth.

The approval comes after a series of upstream sector reforms over the past decade, including opening nearly the entire offshore acreage for exploration, modernising the exploration framework and strengthening the National Data Repository.

With Samudra Manthan, the government is betting that strategic public investment, new technology and improved infrastructure can unlock India's largely untapped offshore energy resources.

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