PM spotlights India's deep-sea oil exploration mission. What is Samudra Manthan?

On Independence Day, PM Modi highlighted how India is looking beneath its waters for ways to reduce its dependency and exposure to global energy shocks. What is the nation doing?

In Short

• PM Modi highlights seabed energy potential on Independence Day
• Samudra Manthan launched for offshore oil and gas search
• Scheme aims to add 600 million tonnes oil equivalent reserves

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, August 15, put a spotlight on a hidden frontier of India’s energy search, pointing to the seabed beneath the world's most populous country's waters.

Addressing the nation from the Red Fort in New Delhi on Independence Day, PM Modi said India’s dependence on imported crude oil was partly the result of past limits on offshore exploration.

“We had declared nearly 99 per cent of our offshore areas as ‘no-go areas’,” he said, adding that those areas had now been opened and India is now planning to search for new energy reserves.

This bid to find new energy reserves is called Samudra Manthan.

WHAT IS SAMUDRA MANTHAN?

Samudra Manthan is the government’s National Offshore Exploration Scheme, aimed at finding and eventually producing oil and natural gas from India’s offshore basins.

The Union Cabinet approved it on July 31 with an outlay of Rs. 84,084 crore through financial year 2030-31.

The project covers seismic surveys that will use sound waves to map rocks beneath the seabed, deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling, scientific drilling, common offshore infrastructure and an integrated oil and gas manufacturing and services zone.

The government expects the scheme to add more than 600 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent to hydrocarbon reserves and increase domestic production.

And the nation needs that level of production.

India imports close to 88.5% of the crude oil it consumes, while the natural gas import dependence is also around half of the nation's consumption.

That leaves India exposed to events occurring beyond its borders, like the Iran-US war.

The energy disruptions linked to the West Asia conflict in 2026 reminded India of the risks of dependency that exposes India to shocks that can ripple through the country effortlessly.

WHAT COULD SAMUDRA MANTHAN CHANGE?

India has nine offshore basins covering 1.73 million sq km, according to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons.

The biggest change that is to come is access.

The government says the “no-go” area was cut from 13.67 lakh square kilometres to 24,832 square kilometres, effectively opening 99% of India’s 23.6 lakh-square-kilometre Exclusive Economic Zone for exploration.

But opening the waters does not guarantee oil or gas.

Deep-sea exploration is expensive and uncertain and that's where Samudra Manthan comes in, seeking to reduce that uncertainty through better geological data, more drilling and infrastructure to turn discoveries into production.

If the project delivers, the pay-off could be more domestic energy and a larger buffer against global supply shocks, giving India greater control over energy supply and valuable self-reliance.

PM Modi took the opportunity to highlight another major achievement for India.

The prime minister referred to Skyroot Aerospace, a private space company, for successfully launching Vikram-1, the country's first privately developed orbital-class rocket.

- Ends