Modi government to launch first bidding round under deepwater mission
What's the story
The Indian government is all set to kick off its first-ever bidding round for oil and gas blocks under the National Deepwater Exploration Mission. The move is part of a wider strategy to ramp up domestic hydrocarbon production and reduce expensive fuel imports. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has announced this development.
Mission details
Mission aims to double hydrocarbon reserves by 2032
The first deepwater bid round will be conducted under the "Samudra Manthan" initiative, which covers a geographical area of over one million square kilometers in the Andaman Nicobar and ultra-deep KG and Cauvery basins. ONGC said that this mission is part of their larger goal to double hydrocarbon reserves by 2032 and triple national output by 2047. The aim is to cut the country's 88% import dependence for crude oil.
Exploration support
Fund to back strategic oil, gas exploration
As reported by Business Standard on August 17, the government is also planning to create a fund under this mission to back strategic oil and gas exploration in deepwater and ultra-deepwater regions. This comes as part of India's larger strategy to bolster its energy security amid rising global demand for hydrocarbons.
Crude commitment
ONGC will continue to buy Russian crude oil
Speaking to the media, ONGC Chairman and CEO Arun Kumar Singh said the company will continue to buy Russian crude oil for its refineries as long as it is commercially viable. "As of now, there is no bar on buying Russian crude. So, if it is commercially viable and prices are attractive, we will keep buying every drop available in the market," he said.
Future investments
Investment plans for FY26
For the fiscal year 2026, ONGC has planned an investment of ₹34,900 crore. This includes ₹10,794 crore for development drilling and ₹7,249 crore for exploratory drilling. The company also announced that it has halted the decline in its crude production in FY25 and will soon do the same for natural gas production too.