India, July 26 -- Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said the ONGC's deepwater drilling in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin marks the beginning of an ambitious programme to unlock the country's offshore hydrocarbon potential and strengthen energy security.

In a post on X, Puri said he had virtually spudded ONGC's exploratory well MN-DW18-1-H-D under the Samudra Manthan mission. He described it as a major milestone in India's efforts to explore deep and ultra-deepwater energy resources and said the campaign aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of tapping the country's untapped offshore oil and gas reserves.

"India's next energy frontier is deep waters," Puri said. He added that the campaign is...