Samudra Manthan (National Offshore Exploration Scheme)

About Samudra Manthan (National Offshore Exploration Scheme)

• Samudra Manthan is a comprehensive initiative to accelerate offshore oil and gas exploration and production across the entire exploration value chain.
• It adopts an integrated approach to accelerate offshore hydrocarbon exploration and production. 
• Aim: It aims to increase India’s domestic oil and gas production from around 62 MMTOE to 80 MMTOE annually and expand the country’s hydrocarbon resource base from 1.6 billion TOE to 2.2 billion TOE. 
  • Note: The additional production has the potential to reduce crude oil imports by nearly ₹1 lakh crore annually, strengthening India’s energy security and reducing import dependence.
• Nodal Ministry: It is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
• Budget outlay: It has an approved outlay of Rs.84,084 crore.
• Implementation Duration: It has implementation during up to FY 2030–31. 
• Features: The scheme includes:
  • Large-scale acquisition, processing and interpretation of high-quality seismic data.
  • Accelerated exploratory drilling in deepwater and ultra-deepwater areas.
  • Scientific drilling in frontier sedimentary basins.
  • Development of common offshore production and evacuation infrastructure.
  • Establishment of an integrated Oil & Gas Manufacturing and Services Zone.
  • Dedicated provisions for digital programme management, capacity building, technology adoption, stakeholder engagement and international outreach.
• Key Components of the scheme: 
  • Acquisition and processing of modern offshore seismic data 
  • Drilling of 60 deepwater exploration wells 
  • Development of common offshore infrastructure hubs to facilitate commercialisation of discoveries; and 
  • Establishment of Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zones to promote domestic manufacturing and localisation of critical equipment and services 
• Expected outcomes:
  • Reserve accretion of over 600 Million Metric Tons of Oil Equivalent (MMTOE).
  • Significant increase in offshore exploration and domestic oil and gas production and development of a globally competitive ecosystem for offshore technologies and services.
  • Increased investments across the exploration and production value chain, driving innovation and long-term economic growth.
  • The scheme is expected to enhance India’s long-term energy security by unlocking offshore energy resources, strengthening technological capabilities and creating sustainable economic value.
  • Large-scale employment generation and strengthening of indigenous manufacturing under the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.