Government greenlights Rs 84,000-crore scheme to boost offshore oil & gas exploration, production
The Union Cabinet approved the "Samudra Manthan" (National Offshore Exploration Scheme) with a total outlay of ₹84,084 crore, to be spent till 2030-31
The scheme covers the entire offshore exploration value chain — seismic surveys, deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling, frontier basin exploration, production infrastructure, and an integrated oil and gas manufacturing and services zone
It is expected to add over 600 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) to India's hydrocarbon reserves and build a globally competitive offshore technology ecosystem
The scheme is linked to a vision for offshore energy exploration announced during the Independence Day address of 2025
Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), 2016
HELP is the umbrella policy framework, approved on March 10, 2016, that governs how India licenses acreage for exploration and production (E&P) of oil, natural gas, coal-bed methane, shale gas/oil, tight gas, and gas hydrates. It replaced the earlier New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) regime and introduced a revenue-sharing contract (RSC) model in place of NELP's profit-sharing model, removing the need for costly cost-recovery audits.
Key Details
- Four pillars: (a) a uniform licence covering all hydrocarbon forms, (b) Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) allowing firms to nominate blocks year-round, (c) an easy-to-administer revenue-sharing model, and (d) marketing and pricing freedom for crude oil and natural gas
- Introduced graded royalty rates that decline from shallow water to deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks, to offset higher exploration risk and cost offshore
- Under OALP bidding rounds since 2017, 172 exploration blocks covering roughly 3,78,652 sq km have been awarded (as of recent rounds)
- Administered with support of the National Data Repository (NDR) maintained by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH)
Samudra Manthan operates within the HELP-OALP licensing architecture — its deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling push is designed to attract exploration into offshore acreage that the graded royalty structure already incentivises.
India's Energy Security and Import Dependence
India imports the overwhelming majority of its crude oil and a significant share of its natural gas, making upstream exploration a recurring GS3 theme on energy security, the current account, and strategic autonomy.
Key Details
- India's crude oil import dependence has risen to a record high, around 88-89% in 2025-26, up from about 85.5% in 2021-22, as domestic output has declined
- Natural gas import dependence stands at roughly 45-50% of consumption; the government aims to raise natural gas's share in the primary energy mix from about 6.7% to 15% by 2030
- India maintains Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) under Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) at three underground locations — Visakhapatnam (1.33 MMT), Mangaluru (1.5 MMT), and Padur (2.5 MMT) — with a combined capacity of about 5.33 MMT, roughly 9.5 days of national crude requirement
- ONGC and Oil India Limited (OIL) are the principal public-sector upstream companies operating in India's offshore basins (Mumbai High, Krishna-Godavari, Cauvery basins)
Samudra Manthan directly targets the offshore reserves-addition gap that drives India's rising import dependence, positioning deepwater exploration as a lever to reduce the crude and gas import bill over the 2026-31 period.
Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat in the Energy Sector
The scheme explicitly links offshore exploration to domestic manufacturing capability — an application of the broader Make in India (launched 2014) and Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance, articulated 2020) frameworks to a capital- and technology-intensive sector historically dominated by foreign oilfield service majors.
Key Details
- The "integrated oil and gas manufacturing and services zone" component aims to build indigenous capacity for offshore rigs, subsea equipment, and exploration services
- Reduces reliance on foreign oilfield services firms for deepwater and ultra-deepwater operations, which require specialised, capital-intensive technology
- Complements the National Data Repository and DGH's technical assessments of India's sedimentary basins (26 basins, of which a large share remain poorly explored)
By bundling exploration incentives with a manufacturing/services zone, Samudra Manthan seeks to convert exploration spending into durable domestic industrial capacity, rather than recurring import of exploration services.
- Scheme outlay: ₹84,084 crore, through 2030-31
- Expected reserves addition: over 600 MMTOE (million metric tonnes of oil equivalent)
- HELP approved: March 10, 2016; replaced NELP (profit-sharing → revenue-sharing model)
- India's crude oil import dependence: ~88-89% (2025-26, provisional), up from 85.5% (2021-22)
- Natural gas import share target: raise domestic share of primary energy mix from 6.7% to 15% by 2030
- Strategic Petroleum Reserve capacity: 5.33 MMT across Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru, and Padur (~9.5 days of cover)
- OALP blocks awarded so far: 172 blocks covering ~3,78,652 sq km