India launches ₹84,084cr Samudra Manthan offshore oil and gas exploration
India just kicked off the massive Samudra Manthan scheme, putting ₹84,084 crore into offshore oil and gas exploration.
The goal? To cut back on heavy energy imports: right now, 88% of crude oil and one-half of natural gas come from abroad.
By funding risky deep-sea projects straight from the national budget, India hopes to become more self-reliant in energy.
Samudra Manthan funds 60 offshore wells
Over the next five years, the scheme will support drilling 60 deep-sea wells, covering up to 50% of costs (or ₹650 crore per well).
It's also investing big in shared infrastructure like subsea pipelines and processing facilities.
With ₹43,200 crore for drilling and another ₹28,534 crore for finding new basins using seismic data, India wants to attract global investors and add incremental annual production of 10-15 million tons of oil equivalent, reducing the dependence on imports of oil and gas by 3-5%, helping keep future energy supplies steady.