Samudra Manthan: Govt to partially underwrite drilling risks; operators to retain operational responsibility

Neeraj Mittal, Oil Secretary

Releasing operational guidelines of its flagship exploration and production (E&P) scheme, Samudra Manthan, the Oil Ministry said that it is offering capital to de-risk early-stage high-uncertainty investment to encourage operator-led funding in the sector.

Public-private collaboration is an organising principle of Samudra Manthan, or the National Offshore Exploration Scheme, the Ministry emphasised.

Preserving commercial discipline

For accelerating offshore oil and gas exploration, the government will partially underwrite drilling risks while operators retain majority capital exposure and full operational responsibility, thereby preserving commercial discipline, the guidelines said.

Similarly, for 3D seismic data acquisition and National Data Repository (NDR) data reprocessing, as well as implementing AI tools, the multi-client agency co-invests with the government and recovers its investment through non-exclusive data licensing, aligning commercial incentives with basin-wide neutral data coverage.

In the case of infrastructure-led deepwater production and exploration, the funding under the scheme is limited to common infrastructure, while all upstream field development, tie-ins and production facilities remain operator-financed, accessed on a non-discriminatory tolling basis.

Oil Secretary Neeraj Mittal pointed out that the scheme rests on two mutually reinforcing components.

“The first builds a basin-wide, high-quality seismic and subsurface data backbone, harnessing advanced technologies and artificial intelligence, so that every drilling decision is better informed and every rupee of exploration capital is better directed,” he added.

Capital risk

The second shares the high geological and capital risk of deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling with operators through structured milestone-linked funding, supporting common hub infrastructure that unlocks stranded discoveries, and establishing dedicated manufacturing and services zones to anchor a domestic oil and gas ecosystem, Mittal said.

The Oil Ministry will coordinate with Ministries of Environment, Defence, Home Affairs, External Affairs and others to facilitate a digital single-window mechanism with parallel processing and defined timelines for submission, coordination and tracking of various regulations.

Project timeline

A Samudra Manthan Offshore Operations Monitoring System (SM-OOMS) will be created within six months of notification of the operating guidelines.

The Director General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) will deploy and operationalise the SM-OOMS as a secure, centralised digital platform for all the components and sub-components for real-time monitoring of offshore survey and drilling activity.

Samudra Manthan, with an outlay of ₹84,084-crore till FY31, aims to add incremental annual production of 10-15 million tonnes of oil equivalent (MTOE) that can potentially reduce India’s high import dependence on crude oil and natural gas.

Published on October 23, 2026