The scheme, called Mission Anveshan, was launched in fiscal year 2025 (FY25) and is set to end in FY26.
Under it, the government gives incentives to state-run companies Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd to carry out ‘seismic data acquisition’, processing, interpretation and mapping of oil and gas reserves. It was launched in continuation of the National Seismic Programme (NSP) aiming at hydrocarbon resources in India’s sedimentary basins.
“The scheme may be extended by a year, till the end of FY27. However, a decision on this front is yet to be taken,” said a person in the know of the developments.
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The mission was approved with a budgetary outlay of ₹720 crore for two years, FY25 and FY26, for conducting two-dimensional (2D) seismic surveys (including acquisition, processing and interpretation) of 20,275 line-kilometers (LKM) in seven on-land sedimentary basins—Ganga-Punjab, Rajasthan, Saurasthra, Deccan Synclise, Cuddappah, Krishna-Godavari and Chhattisgarh.
“Going ahead, there would also be an emphasis on more and more of 3D (three-dimensional) surveys, which are technically superior and likely to give much more accurate assessments,” said another person.
Queries mailed to the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas remained unanswered till press time.
Under the scheme, Oil India has started gathering seismic data in the Rajasthan and Ganga-Punjab basins, having completed work on around 1,683 LKM of 2D seismic data. However, work by ONGC was delayed due to litigation on the contract, according to a standing committee report submitted to Parliament in March.
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ONGC has started experimental survey in Cuddapah area in Andhra Pradesh and seismic data acquisition is expected to start shortly, it noted.
The House panel on petroleum and natural gas under the chairmanship of Sunil Dattatrey Tatkare, Lok Sabha member from Raigad, Maharashtra, recommended the government closely monitor progress under the scheme and make efforts for completion of 2D seismic surveys in a time-bound manner so that availability and interpretation of geoscientific data can be offered to attract global investors for more proactive participation in the Indian exploration and production sector, particularly for deepsea and ultra-deepsea exploration of hydrocarbon resources.
“Funds should be released timely to ensure that work is not hampered. The committee also expect upstream majors ONGC and OIL to make earnest efforts for time-bound completion of the targets under the scheme by addressing the challenges being faced in their operations,” said the panel’s report.
In the past few years, the government has been focusing on exploring new and uncharted areas to discover hydrocarbon reserves that would increase India’s oil and gas production and reduce import dependence. India imports about 85% of its energy requirements.
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The government has opened up several previously no-go areas for oil and gas exploration. Speaking on the ninth round of auctions of hydrocarbon blocks under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) recently, petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri said: “We were determined to unlock India’s untapped energy potential, estimated at approximately 42 billion tonnes of oil and oil equivalent of gas.”
In the ninth round of auctions, ONGC secured 15 blocks—four in partnership with other players and 11 independently. Oil India Ltd bagged nine, including three with ONGC. The Vedanta Group’s Cairn Oil & Gas secured seven blocks.
ONGC has tied up with Reliance Industries Ltd and London-headquartered bp plc for a block in the Saurashtra Basin, marking the entry of bp into India’s upstream exploration and production space.
This emphasis on discovering domestic oil and gas production comes at a time when India’s consumption of petroleum products has been hitting record levels in the past few years and is expected to remain robust.
“In the next two decades, 25% of the world’s incremental energy demand growth will come from India,” Puri told the event last week.