Overview
- The Union Cabinet formally approved the Samudra Manthan National Offshore Exploration Scheme on Friday with a Phase‑I outlay of Rs 84,084 crore to run through FY2030–31.
- The plan earmarks roughly Rs 28,534 crore for seismic and geological surveys, about Rs 43,200 crore to support deepwater drilling, Rs 10,000 crore for common offshore infrastructure and Rs 2,000 crore for oil and gas manufacturing and services zones.
- The government will underwrite up to 50% of eligible drilling costs or roughly Rs 650 crore per deepwater or ultra‑deepwater exploration well for about 60 wells, shifting the programme from policy design to immediate execution steps such as seismic campaigns, block awards and drilling planning.
- Officials say the scheme could catalyse over 600 MMTOE of reserves, but independent analysts estimate any incremental production may only cut import dependence modestly by about 3–5 percent and note deepwater wells cost $100–250 million each and carry high geological risk.
- Samudra Manthan builds on a decade of upstream reforms that opened offshore acreage and modernised contracts, and it seeks to boost domestic jobs and services; the key near‑term items to watch are seismic results, auction outcomes and the commercial viability of early discoveries.