India, May 12 -- The Centre has reduced the royalty burden on crude oil and casing head condensate production from offshore deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks, as part of revised provisions under India's oil and gas regime.

Under the new structure, deepwater projects will attract a royalty of 5 per cent for the first seven years from the start of commercial production, increasing to 10 per cent from the eighth year onwards. For ultra-deepwater blocks, no royalty will be charged during the initial seven years, followed by a concessional 5 per cent rate thereafter.

The revised schedule applies across multiple exploration regimes, including nomination-based awards to national oil companies, pre-NELP blocks, and those awarded under the H...