India's cabinet has approved an 840.84 billion rupee ($8.8 billion) offshore exploration program aimed at expanding the country's oil and gas exploration activities, the Press Information Bureau said in a statement on Friday.
The Samudra Manthan National Offshore Exploration Scheme, approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be implemented through the 2030-31 financial year, it said.
The central sector plan will support a range of activities across the offshore exploration and production sector, including large-scale acquisition, processing and interpretation of seismic data, exploratory drilling in deepwater and ultra-deepwater areas, scientific drilling in frontier basins, and the development of shared offshore production and evacuation infrastructure.
The program also includes plans for an integrated Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zone, along with measures focused on digital program management, capacity building, technology adoption, stakeholder engagement and international outreach.
The government said the scheme is expected to support the addition of more than 600 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent to India's reserves, increase offshore exploration activity, promote higher domestic oil and gas production, create employment opportunities and encourage investment across the exploration and production value chain.
The initiative is part of the government's broader efforts to expand offshore energy resources and strengthen technological capabilities in the sector.
The government said the scheme builds on reforms undertaken over the past decade, including opening almost the entire offshore acreage for exploration, modernizing the legislative and contractual framework and strengthening the National Data Repository.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said the scheme will use public investment, advanced technologies and infrastructure development to accelerate offshore exploration and production in India, the statement said.