Hardeep Puri announces ₹84,700 cr support for oil, gas exploration; India opens 1mn sq km

Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has outlined India’s renewed push to expand domestic oil and gas exploration, highlighting the opening of 1 million sq km of sedimentary basins for exploration and the Samudra Manthan Yojana, under which government resources of up to ₹84,700 crore are being made available to support drilling around 150 wells over three years. Puri also announced eight contracts under the 2025 and 2026 Coal Bed Methane bid rounds and unveiled the India Hydrocarbon Outlook 2026. India drilled 674 wells in 2025–26, including 131 exploratory and 543 development wells. The government has also offered more than 2.96 lakh sq km of acreage under OALP Rounds 10 and 11.