Samudra Manthan: India’s Deep-Sea Push for Greater Energy Security

Context

The ₹84,084-crore Samudra Manthan (National Offshore Exploration Scheme) seeks to expand India’s hydrocarbon exploration into deep and ultra-deep offshore regions and strengthen domestic energy security.

Expanding India’s Offshore Exploration Frontier

Samudra Manthan is a Central Sector scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, with financial support extending up to FY 2030–31. It aims to reduce the risks associated with offshore exploration and unlock new domestic oil and gas resources.

The programme focuses on the Mahanadi, Andaman-Nicobar, Krishna-Godavari, Cauvery and Kutch-Mumbai offshore basins, combining financial incentives, geological surveys and common infrastructure to make difficult offshore discoveries commercially viable.

Key Components of the Mission

• Deepwater drilling: ₹43,200 crore has been earmarked for 60 exploration wells, with government support covering up to 50% of eligible drilling costs, subject to a ceiling of ₹675 crore per well.
• Seismic surveys: ₹28,534 crore will support offshore 2D/3D seismic surveys, data processing and geological interpretation.
• Shared infrastructure: ₹10,000 crore is allocated for common subsea infrastructure and evacuation pipelines, addressing the high cost of connecting isolated offshore discoveries to production systems.
• Domestic manufacturing: ₹2,000 crore is intended to strengthen indigenous equipment and offshore service capabilities.
• Regulatory support: ₹350 crore is provided for monitoring and regulatory requirements.

Why Deepwater Exploration Matters

India remains highly dependent on imported crude oil, with its annual crude import expenditure approaching $144 billion. At the same time, mature fields such as Mumbai High are experiencing natural production declines, creating a need to continuously identify new sources of domestic supply.

India has also progressively liberalised its upstream sector through measures such as HELP, OALP, Revenue Sharing Contracts and the National Data Repository. The opening of nearly 99% of previously restricted offshore areas has further expanded the exploration opportunity within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Samudra Manthan therefore represents the next stage of this policy evolution—from making acreage available to providing the financial and physical ecosystem required to explore technically challenging offshore resources.

Basin-Wise Strategic Focus

Mahanadi Basin:
The basin is emerging as an important testing ground for deepwater appraisal. The 2026 appraisal campaign is examining earlier offshore gas discoveries and could demonstrate how shared infrastructure can improve the commercial prospects of smaller discoveries.

Andaman-Nicobar Basin:
This is among India’s most challenging frontier exploration areas. Its estimated resource potential and evidence of petroleum-system activity have encouraged further exploration, including operations in extremely deep waters.

Krishna-Godavari and Cauvery Basins:
The mission seeks to extend exploration beyond established offshore provinces into deeper acreage. Technical cooperation with experienced international operators can help address the specialised technological requirements of such projects.

Kutch-Mumbai Offshore Region:
Common evacuation and production infrastructure is particularly important here because the cost of developing isolated deepwater discoveries can otherwise make them commercially unattractive.

Expected Economic and Strategic Gains

India’s offshore basins have considerable geological potential, but geological resources should not be confused with commercially proven reserves. Samudra Manthan seeks to bridge this gap by converting promising geological prospects into recoverable resources.

The mission targets:

• Addition of more than 600 MMTOE of recoverable reserves.
• Expansion of the verified resource base from around 1.6 billion to 2.2 billion TOE.
• Increase in domestic oil and gas production from roughly 62 MMTOE to 80 MMTOE annually.
• Potential reduction in crude import expenditure by nearly ₹1 lakh crore annually if the targeted discoveries reach commercial production.

Beyond financial savings, higher domestic production can strengthen the current account, energy resilience and strategic autonomy during periods of global supply disruptions.

Major Challenges

Technological complexity: Deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling requires sophisticated drillships, subsea equipment, advanced seismic imaging and high-pressure/high-temperature technologies. Exploration wells can involve very high costs without any guarantee of commercial discovery.

Commercial viability: Finding hydrocarbons does not automatically make a project profitable. Remote discoveries may remain stranded when dedicated pipelines, processing facilities and evacuation systems are too expensive.

Environmental and climatic risks: The Bay of Bengal and Andaman region are exposed to cyclones, strong currents and difficult offshore operating conditions. These factors can increase project delays and costs.

Resource-to-reserve conversion: Geological indications must undergo extensive appraisal and testing before they can be classified as commercially recoverable reserves. This requires sustained investment and long project timelines.

Way Forward

India should prioritise rapid development of the ₹10,000-crore shared offshore infrastructure network, allowing multiple discoveries to use common subsea and evacuation facilities. This can significantly lower development costs and prevent smaller fields from remaining stranded.

Greater collaboration with experienced international deepwater operators can provide access to advanced drilling, subsea and reservoir-management technologies. At the same time, the ₹2,000-crore manufacturing support should be used to build domestic capabilities in subsea trees, manifolds, intervention vessels and other specialised equipment.

A coordinated environmental-clearance mechanism for offshore projects can also reduce regulatory delays while maintaining strong safeguards for marine ecosystems.

Conclusion

Samudra Manthan marks a strategic transition towards frontier offshore energy exploration. Its success will depend not merely on discovering hydrocarbons but on converting discoveries into commercially viable production through technology, infrastructure, partnerships and efficient regulation. If implemented effectively, the mission can strengthen India’s domestic energy base while reducing vulnerability to external oil and gas shocks.

Source : Times Of India