Samudra Manthan: Union Cabinet approves ₹84,084 crore National Offshore Exploration Scheme to unlock India’s vast offshore energy potential

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday approved the ‘Samudra Manthan’ – National Offshore Exploration Scheme, a Central Sector initiative of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, with a substantial outlay of ₹84,084 crore for implementation up to the financial year 2030-31.

The scheme translates the Prime Minister’s vision, articulated from the Red Fort on Independence Day 2025, of a modern-day Samudra Manthan aimed at unlocking India’s vast offshore energy potential. It represents a landmark step towards strengthening the country’s energy security, accelerating domestic exploration and production, promoting technological leadership, and advancing the goal of Viksit Bharat.

India’s eastern and western offshore basins, extending to water depths of up to 3,000 metres, are estimated to hold more than 5,600 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) of hydrocarbon potential. With the nation importing around 85 to 90 per cent of its crude oil requirements, the scheme assumes particular significance amid ongoing global energy uncertainties, including risks to supply routes in the Middle East.

The scheme covers the entire offshore exploration value chain. It provides for large-scale acquisition, processing and interpretation of high-quality seismic data, accelerated deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploratory drilling, scientific drilling in frontier basins, development of common offshore production and evacuation infrastructure, and the establishment of an integrated Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zone. Dedicated provisions have also been made for digital programme management, capacity building, technology adoption, stakeholder engagement and international outreach, thereby creating an integrated ecosystem to speed up offshore exploration and production.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, described the programme as a major game-changer for meeting the country’s rising demand for oil and gas. He noted that it comprises two main components: offshore seismic data acquisition, processing and interpretation, backed by support of around ₹28,500 crore, and the accelerated offshore exploration scheme with support of approximately ₹43,200 crore. Together these form a comprehensive plan designed to systematically harness the hydrocarbon deposits within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

The offshore seismic data acquisition will involve government-funded 2D/3D seismic acquisition, processing and interpretation with advanced technology and Al to enable accelerated drilling. The support is required because the sparse, fragmented offshore and deepwater seismic coverage especially across the erstwhile No-Go Zones constrains generation of drill-ready prospects.

Accelerated Offshore Exploration will include government support for drilling 60 deepwater/ultra-deepwater wells. This will be open to both public and private E&P operators to accelerate reserves accretion, unlock India’s deepwater potential and strengthen long-term energy self-reliance. The cabinet noted that this support is required as deepwater drilling is high-risk, capital-intensive and long-gestation, limiting incentive for exploration and delaying discoveries and monetization.

Other than these two main categories, ₹10,000 crore has been allocated for infrastructure led production, which will include government-supported common infrastructure in select offshore basins converting stranded discoveries into production while lowering project costs and improving commercial viability.

Additionally, ₹2,000 crore will be spent by the government on Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zone. Under this, the govt will build domestic manufacturing, repair, warehousing, engineering and service capability, to catalyse Make in India across the supply chain. Low indigenisation of oil and gas equipment and services has kept exploration costs high and drives import dependence and forex outflow.

Samudra Manthan is expected to catalyse the accretion of over 600 MMTOE of hydrocarbon reserves. It is projected to add incremental annual production of 10 to 15 MMTOE, with a peak potential of 20 MMTOE, generate significant annual foreign exchange savings by substituting imports, create large-scale employment opportunities, strengthen indigenous manufacturing under the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives, and foster a globally competitive ecosystem for offshore technologies and services.

The scheme is also anticipated to stimulate substantial investments across the exploration and production value chain, opening long-term opportunities for industry, innovation and economic growth.

This initiative builds upon the transformative reforms of the past decade, which included opening almost the entire offshore acreage for exploration, modernising the legislative and contractual framework, and strengthening the National Data Repository. Recent progress under the Samudra Manthan umbrella is already visible, with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation having spudded its first deepwater exploratory well in the Mahanadi basin earlier this month.

As India progresses towards becoming a developed nation, Samudra Manthan stands as a transformational national effort that will unlock the country’s offshore energy resources, deepen technological capabilities and create enduring value for the economy and future generations.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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