Centre to launch first bidding round under Deepwater Mission soon

National Deepwater Mission aims to boost hydrocarbon output, cut imports

The government will soon launch the first bidding round for oil and gas blocks under the National Deepwater Exploration Mission as part of a larger strategy to boost domestic hydrocarbon output and cut costly fuel imports, state-owned explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said on Friday.

 

“Anchored on the 2025 Act’s uniform, investor-friendly licence, the first deepwater bid round is expected soon,” the company said in a post-annual general meeting (AGM) interaction, adding that the scope of geographical area covered under the "Samudra Manthan" initiative includes more than a million square kilometre in Andaman Nicobar, and ultra-deep KG and Cauvery basins.

 

ONGC also informed that the larger goal under the Mission is to double hydrocarbon reserves by 2032, and triple the national output by 2047 in order to cut the nation's 88 per cent import dependence for crude oil. The Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of his Independence Day speech on August 15.

 

Business Standard had reported on August 17 that the government is planning to set up a corpus under the Mission to support strategic oil and gas exploration efforts in deepwater and ultra-deepwater areas.

 

Speaking to media persons, ONGC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arun Kumar Singh said the company will continue to purchase Russian crude oil for its refineries as long as it makes commercial sense. "As of now, there is no bar on buying Russian crude. So, if it is commercially viable and prices are attractive, we will keep buying every drop available in the market," he said.

 

The company also said it had checked the declining trend in its crude production in 2024-25 (FY25) and it will soon arrest the decline in natural gas production too. "The rise in crude oil production is attributed to monetisation of the KG 98/2 project," Singh said.

 

In FY26, ONGC is planning to invest ₹34,900 crore, including ₹10,794 crore in development drilling, and ₹7,249 crore in exploratory drilling.