The Indian Union Cabinet has approved the National Offshore Exploration Scheme, known as Samudra Manthan, with a total allocated budget of Rs840.84bn ($8.83bn) through the financial year 2030–31.
The decision, taken in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marks the beginning of a government-backed programme aiming to expand oil and gas exploration in India’s offshore areas
The scheme, overseen by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, is described as India’s largest offshore exploration initiative to date. According to the Indian Government, the Samudra Manthan scheme represents a shift from policy development to implementation following a series of reforms introduced by the government to encourage domestic hydrocarbon production. The initiative is expected to help reduce India’s dependence on imported crude oil, with the country currently ranking as the world’s third-largest consumer and facing an import bill of roughly $144bn each year.
Under the plan, financial support of up to 50% of the cost of deepwater exploration drilling will be provided by the government to lower investment risks for companies. The Samudra Manthan scheme targets development in deepwater and ultra-deepwater areas. These include the Krishna-Godavari, Cauvery, Mahanadi and Andaman basins, where drilling a single well can cost between $125m and $150m.