Cabinet approves ₹84,084 crore for offshore exploration scheme ‘Samudra Manthan’
The Union Cabinet approved "Samudra Manthan" — the National Offshore Exploration Scheme — a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, with an approved outlay of ₹84,084 crore for implementation through FY 2030-31
The scheme allocates ₹28,534 crore for acquisition and processing of modern offshore seismic data, and ₹43,200 crore for drilling 60 deepwater exploration wells
Government support for well drilling is capped at 50% of eligible drilling cost or ₹675 crore per well, whichever is lower
₹10,000 crore is earmarked for common offshore infrastructure hubs to aid commercialisation of discoveries, alongside plans for Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zones
The scheme is projected to catalyse reserve accretion of over 600 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) and reduce crude oil import dependence by close to ₹1 lakh crore annually
Legal Basis for Offshore Exploration — Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002
Offshore hydrocarbon and mineral exploration in India is governed by the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002 (OAMDR Act), which provides the Central government exclusive authority to grant exploration and production rights in India's maritime zones — territorial waters, continental shelf, exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and other maritime zones as defined under the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976.
Key Details
- Enacted 2002; "offshore area" covers territorial waters, continental shelf, EEZ, and other maritime zones; "mineral oil" is defined to include natural gas and petroleum
- Grants the Union exclusive rights over offshore minerals — Section 2 vests control with the Centre, distinguishing offshore areas from onshore mineral regulation under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957
- Amended in 2023 to introduce production-sharing style reforms and attract private/foreign investment in offshore blocks
- India's EEZ spans over 2 million sq km, holding significant unexplored hydrocarbon potential
Samudra Manthan's deepwater and seismic-survey components operate within the exploration blocks licensed under the OAMDR Act framework, extending exploration into India's EEZ where prior activity has been limited.
Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) and Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP)
HELP, approved by the Cabinet in March 2016, replaced the earlier New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), 1997, and introduced a uniform licensing regime covering all hydrocarbons (conventional oil and gas, coal-bed methane, shale gas/oil, tight gas, gas hydrates) along with revenue-sharing (instead of profit-sharing) contracts and marketing/pricing freedom for producers. OALP, operational since July 2017, lets companies select exploration blocks year-round using data from the National Data Repository (NDR), instead of waiting for formal government bid rounds.
Key Details
- HELP (2016) shifted from profit-sharing (NELP era) to revenue-sharing contracts, simplifying government take calculations
- OALP allows Expression of Interest (EoI)-based block selection any time of year, evaluated by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH)
- DGH, under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, is the technical regulatory body managing exploration licensing and the NDR
- Bid rounds under OALP have been conducted in successive phases since 2018 to expand acreage under exploration
Samudra Manthan's seismic-data and deepwater-well components are designed to feed the OALP framework with better geoscientific data, making offshore blocks more attractive for future bid rounds under HELP/OALP.
Energy Security and Import Dependence
India imports a large majority of its crude oil requirement, making domestic upstream exploration a recurring GS3 theme under energy security. Offshore basins (Krishna-Godavari, Cauvery, Mumbai High, Andaman) are central to reducing this import dependence.
Key Details
- India's crude oil import dependence has consistently remained in the 85-88% range in recent years [Unverified — verify against latest Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas / PPAC figures]
- ONGC operates India's principal offshore fields, including Mumbai High, under exploration and production licences from DGH
- The scheme's target of 600 MMTOE reserve accretion and ~₹1 lakh crore annual import-bill reduction directly targets this exposure
Samudra Manthan is explicitly framed as an energy-security measure, aligning with India's broader upstream strategy to raise domestic production share and reduce crude import reliance.
- Total outlay: ₹84,084 crore, through FY 2030-31
- Seismic data acquisition/processing: ₹28,534 crore
- Deepwater exploration wells: 60 wells, ₹43,200 crore allocation; government support up to 50% of eligible drilling cost or ₹675 crore/well, whichever is lower
- Offshore infrastructure hubs: ₹10,000 crore
- Projected reserve accretion: over 600 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE)
- Projected annual reduction in crude import bill: close to ₹1 lakh crore
- Nodal ministry: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; scheme type: Central Sector Scheme