New Delhi, Aug 15 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced a National Deep Water Exploration Mission aimed at discovering oil and gas reserves beneath the seabed, as part of efforts to boost domestic production and reduce the country's multi-billion-dollar import bill.

India is dependent on imports to meet as much as 88 per cent of its needs of crude oil, which is converted into fuels like petrol and diesel, and about half of its requirement of natural gas, which is used to generate electricity, produce fertilisers and converted to CNG to power automobiles.

One reason for high import dependence is that the country is not endowed with easy-to-find reserves. Large oil and gas discoveries like KG-D6 of Reliance Industries and KG-DWN-98/2 of ONGC happened in the pre-2014 period in deep-sea blocks.

"A huge portion of the budget is spent on importing petrol, diesel, gas, and other such resources... lakhs of crores of rupees go into this," Modi said.

"If we weren't dependent on energy imports, that money could have been used for eradicating poverty, farmers' welfare and improving conditions in our villages... but instead, we have to send it to foreign countries." The government, he said, is now working to make the country self-reliant in energy.

"To make India a developed nation, we are now embarking on a new phase of Samudra Manthan (Churning of the Ocean)," he said. "Building on this effort, we aim to work in mission mode to explore and discover oil and gas reserves beneath the sea. That's why India is launching the National Deep Water Exploration Mission - a significant step toward achieving energy independence." While the large discoveries of KG-D6 and KG-DWN-98/2 and a few more off the East Coast happened in areas awarded under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) prior to 2014, the Modi government has revamped the exploration policy, ushering in an open acreage licensing policy and opening up record area for exploration of oil and gas.

Commenting on the announcement, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, in a post on X, said several key reforms, including legislation like the ORD Amendment Act, have been put in place to enhance exploration and production activities in India over the last few years.

"52 discoveries have been made in the last five years, and 172 since 2014, including 66 offshore. Acreage of more than 0.38 million square kilometres has been awarded (for exploration) as compared to 82,327 sq km between 2009 and 2014. India's energy sector is exploring new horizons." Recently, nearly 1 million sq km of erstwhile 'No-Go' areas have been opened up for exploration and put up for bidding. The areas opened up include new deepwater frontiers like the Andaman-Nicobar basin.

Deep water, particularly off the Andhra coast and the Andaman Sea, may hold some prospects.

Puri and his ministry have been touting the prospects of the Andaman Sea for some time now.

"Andaman-Nicobar: India's Next Oil & Gas Hotspot! Its tectonic setting and proximity to proven petroleum systems in Myanmar and North Sumatra make it a high-potential exploration zone attracting global interest," the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had said in a post on X on July 31.

Puri, in a post on July 30, had said, "Andaman's waters could hold the key to India's energy future".

Stating that India is exploring this untapped frontier, he had said that 25 blocks have been offered for bidding under the current OALP-X bid round, including promising ones in the Andaman Basin, spanning around 2 lakh sq km.

"A breakthrough here means less imports, more jobs, and stronger energy security," he stated. PTI ANZ BAL BAL