Samudra Manthan is India’s National Offshore Exploration Scheme, a Rs 84,084-crore mission to find oil and natural gas beneath the seas around the country. The Cabinet approved it on July 31, 2026.

The name comes from the ancient story of the churning of the ocean in search of hidden treasures. The government uses it as a metaphor for hunting hydrocarbons, the compounds that make crude oil and natural gas, in deep and ultra-deepwater basins.

Why is this needed? India imports nearly 90 per cent of its crude oil, spending about USD 144 billion a year. Its offshore basins, up to 3,000 metres deep, are estimated to hold over 5,600 million tonnes of oil equivalent in potential reserves, but most are unexplored.

Deepwater exploration is costly and slow. One exploratory well costs USD 125 to 150 million, and commercial production can take 5 to 10 years. Existing fields also decline 6 to 7 per cent every year.

The scheme will fund seismic surveys, exploratory drilling and shared offshore infrastructure. It targets over 600 million tonnes of new reserves by 2030-31.