{"id":116379,"date":"2026-08-01T10:59:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T05:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=116379"},"modified":"2026-08-01T10:59:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T05:29:44","slug":"samudra-manthan-national-offshore-exploration-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/samudra-manthan-national-offshore-exploration-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"Samudra Manthan &#8211; National Offshore Exploration Scheme (NOES) to Strengthen India\u2019s Energy Security"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Samudra Manthan Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Union Cabinet has approved the National Offshore Exploration Scheme (NOES), titled \u2018Samudra Manthan\u2019, with an outlay of \u20b984,084 crore for implementation until FY 2030-31.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scheme seeks to <\/span><b>accelerate offshore <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">oil and natural gas <\/span><b>exploration<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, particularly in deepwater and ultra-deepwater basins, reduce import dependence, and enhance India&#8217;s long-term energy security.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Need for the NOES<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is the world\u2019s <\/span><b>third-largest consumer <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of crude oil and a major consumer of natural gas. However,<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Over 88%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of crude oil requirements are met through imports.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Around 50% of natural gas demand is import-dependent.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Domestic production has stagnated, while existing oil and gas fields witness a 6\u20137% annual natural decline in output.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Geopolitical disruptions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such as the West Asia crisis, expose India to supply and price volatility.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scheme addresses these challenges by promoting domestic hydrocarbon exploration in offshore regions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Key Components of Samudra Manthan<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploratory drilling (\u20b943,200 crore):<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Financial support for drilling 60 exploration wells, with a government assistance of up to 50% of eligible drilling cost or \u20b9675 crore per well, whichever is lower.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Intended to reduce investment risks associated with expensive and uncertain offshore exploration.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Offshore data acquisition (\u20b928,534 crore):<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Large-scale acquisition, processing and interpretation of high-quality seismic data.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scientific drilling in frontier basins to reduce geological uncertainty and improve exploration success.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Common offshore infrastructure (\u20b910,000 crore): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Development of shared offshore production and evacuation infrastructure to facilitate commercial production from discovered hydrocarbon reserves.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Oil and gas manufacturing and services zones (\u20b92,000 crore): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Establishment of integrated manufacturing and service hubs to promote domestic manufacturing, localisation of critical equipment, and development of indigenous capabilities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Major Objectives<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scheme aims to catalyse over 600 Million Metric Tonnes of Oil Equivalent (MMTOE) in additional reserves.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increase domestic hydrocarbon production from around 62 MTOE to nearly 80 MTOE annually, subject to successful exploration.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expand India&#8217;s hydrocarbon resource base from 1,600 MTOE to 2,200 MTOE.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reduce annual crude oil imports by nearly \u20b91 lakh crore.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Attract substantial investments<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> across the exploration and production (E&amp;P) value chain.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promote technological innovation and employment in the upstream petroleum sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Focus Areas for Exploration and Need for Government Support<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Focus areas:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scheme prioritises exploration in frontier offshore basins, including &#8211;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Krishna-Godavari Basin<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cauvery Basin<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mahanadi Basin<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Andaman Offshore Region<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These regions are believed to possess significant untapped hydrocarbon potential but require advanced technology and large capital investments.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Government support:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deepwater exploration is characterised by &#8211;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extremely high drilling costs (US$100\u2013250 million per well).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Long gestation period of 5\u201310 years before commercial production.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High geological and commercial risks, as discoveries may not occur or may not be economically viable.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By adopting a risk-sharing approach, the government seeks to encourage greater participation by public and private upstream companies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Expected Benefits<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Energy security: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lower dependence on imported crude oil and natural gas. Greater resilience against global supply disruptions and price shocks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Economic benefits:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Potential annual savings of nearly \u20b91 lakh crore in import expenditure.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increased investment across the hydrocarbon value chain.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employment generation in exploration, engineering, manufacturing and offshore services.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Industrial development: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Development of indigenous manufacturing ecosystem for offshore equipment. Enhanced localisation and reduced reliance on imported technologies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Technology and capacity building:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adoption of advanced seismic imaging, digital programme management and offshore drilling technologies.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthening India&#8217;s technical capabilities in deepwater exploration.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Challenges and Reforms<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Challenges:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High geological uncertainty and exploration failure risks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Capital-intensive<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> nature of offshore drilling.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Requirement of sophisticated technology and specialised expertise.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Environmental concerns related to offshore drilling and marine ecosystems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Commercial viability of discovered reserves remains uncertain.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Expert views:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extensive seismic surveys and exploratory drilling will reduce geological uncertainty and encourage greater private investment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scheme could improve exploration in previously underexplored offshore areas and modestly reduce import dependence by 3\u20135% through incremental production.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Government reforms supporting the scheme:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Samudra Manthan builds upon recent upstream sector reforms, including &#8211;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opening nearly the entire offshore acreage for exploration.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Modernisation <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the legislative and contractual framework.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthening of the National Data Repository (<\/span><b>NDR<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promotion of advanced technologies and digital programme management.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scheme was first envisioned by the Prime Minister during his last year Independence Day address, calling for a modern &#8220;Samudra Manthan&#8221; to unlock India&#8217;s offshore energy potential.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Samudra Manthan scheme represents a<\/span><b> strategic shift <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">towards unlocking India&#8217;s offshore hydrocarbon resources through public investment, risk-sharing, advanced technology and infrastructure development.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While exploration outcomes remain uncertain, successful implementation can significantly strengthen energy security, reduce import dependence, promote domestic manufacturing under <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/atmanirbhar-bharat-abhiyaan\/\" target=\"_blank\">Atmanirbhar Bharat<\/a>.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Source: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/business\/cabinet-approves-84084-crore-for-offshore-exploration-scheme-samudra-manthan\/article71291787.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>TH<\/b><\/a><b>\u00a0| <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/business\/government-approves-rs-84000-crore-samurdra-manthan-scheme-offshore-oil-gas-exploration-scheme-10812449\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>IE<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Union Cabinet has approved the National Offshore Exploration Scheme (NOES), titled \u2018Samudra Manthan\u2019, with an outlay of \u20b984,084 crore for implementation until FY 2030-31.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":116407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[9140],"class_list":["post-116379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-samudra-manthan","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116379"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116392,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116379\/revisions\/116392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}