Rijiju: Cabinet clears ₹84,084 cr offshore exploration scheme
Synopsis
The Union Cabinet under PM Modi approved 'Samudra Manthan', India's National Offshore Exploration Scheme, with an ₹84,084 crore outlay through FY 2030–31. The scheme targets India's exclusive economic zone to reduce the country's more-than-80-percent crude oil import dependence.
Key Takeaways
The Union Cabinet approved Samudra Manthan , the National Offshore Exploration Scheme, on 31 July 2026 .
The scheme carries a total outlay of ₹84,084 crore for implementation through FY 2030–31 .
It aims to explore hydrocarbon reserves in India's exclusive economic zone and strengthen energy security.
India currently imports more than 80 percent of its crude oil, making domestic offshore production a strategic priority.
The scheme follows earlier reforms — HELP (2016) and OALP (2017) — and marks a shift toward direct public investment in offshore exploration.
New offshore bidding rounds and progress reports from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas are the immediate milestones to watch.
India is betting big on the deep blue. The Union Cabinet, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, 31 July 2026, approved 'Samudra Manthan' — the National Offshore Exploration Scheme — with a staggering outlay of ₹84,084 crore to be deployed through FY 2030–31, in what is one of the most ambitious pushes yet to unlock oil and gas reserves beneath Indian waters.
What Samudra Manthan sets out to do
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced the Cabinet decision, framing it as a direct effort to 'unlock India's vast offshore energy potential and strengthen the nation's energy security.' The scheme targets exploration in India's exclusive economic zone — the vast maritime territory where undiscovered hydrocarbon reserves are believed to lie largely untapped. The name itself — Samudra Manthan (literally, 'churning of the ocean') — signals the scale of ambition: a systematic effort to extract value from the seabed.
Why India's import bill makes this urgent
The stakes are not abstract. India currently imports more than 80 percent of its crude oil, making it acutely vulnerable to global price shocks and supply disruptions. Every barrel produced domestically is a dollar not sent abroad. The government has pursued successive policy reforms since 2016 — first the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), then the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) launched in 2017 — to attract investment into exploration. Samudra Manthan is the next, and largest, chapter in that arc.
From OALP rounds to a dedicated national scheme
Where earlier reforms created the framework and opened bidding rounds, Samudra Manthan commits sovereign capital at scale — ₹84,084 crore over roughly five years. That shift from policy architecture to direct public investment signals that the government believes the offshore frontier cannot be unlocked by private capital alone and requires state-backed momentum. Exploration companies, energy importers, and India's refining sector will all watch the rollout of new offshore bidding rounds and progress reports from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas closely.
With a deadline anchored to FY 2030–31, the scheme gives India's offshore energy ambitions a hard timeline — and the Cabinet a clear accountability marker. The ocean is now on the clock.
Point of View
Not just policy intent. With crude import dependence above 80 percent, the scheme addresses one of India's most structurally exposed economic vulnerabilities. The five-year timeline to FY 2030–31 is tight for offshore exploration, which typically runs on decade-long cycles, suggesting the government is prioritising seismic surveys, data acquisition, and block awards over first-oil milestones within the scheme window. For PM Modi's broader energy-security narrative, the ₹84,084 crore figure is a headline number that anchors ambition — but execution through the Ministry of Petroleum and the pace of OALP bidding rounds will determine whether the ocean actually gets churned.
NationPress
31 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Samudra Manthan scheme approved by the Cabinet?
Samudra Manthan is India's National Offshore Exploration Scheme, approved by the Union Cabinet on 31 July 2026 with an outlay of ₹84,084 crore to fund offshore oil and gas exploration through FY 2030–31.
How much money has the government allocated for Samudra Manthan?
The Union Cabinet has approved a total outlay of ₹84,084 crore for the Samudra Manthan scheme, to be deployed over the period ending FY 2030–31.
Why is India launching an offshore oil and gas exploration scheme?
India imports more than 80 percent of its crude oil, making it highly vulnerable to global price swings. Samudra Manthan is designed to tap undiscovered hydrocarbon reserves in India's exclusive economic zone and reduce this dependence.
How does Samudra Manthan relate to earlier policies like HELP and OALP?
The Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP, 2016) and the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP, 2017) created the regulatory framework for exploration. Samudra Manthan builds on these by committing large-scale public investment — ₹84,084 crore — to accelerate offshore activity.
Who announced the Samudra Manthan Cabinet approval?
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced the Cabinet's approval of Samudra Manthan on 31 July 2026, attributing the decision to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
