New Delhi, Aug. 5 -- The Union cabinet last week approved the ambitious Rs.84,000 crore Samudra Manthan scheme for offshore deepwater hydrocarbon exploration for a period of five years. The initiative aims to revive India's stagnant exploration and production (E&P) sector and reduce import dependence at a time when the world's third-largest oil consumer imports about 90% of its crude oil needs. Mint unpacks the scheme.

India's crude oil production has been largely stagnant over the years. In the last fiscal year (FY26), India produced about 28 million tonnes of oil, down from 28.7 million tonnes in FY25. Similarly, natural gas production declined in FY26 to 34,776 million standard cubic meters (mscm), down from 36,113 mscm in FY25. While...