Narendra Modi says "to work in a mission mode towards finding oil and gas reserves under the sea"

The Indian government has released operational guidelines for a new scheme aimed at boosting domestic oil and gas exploration, particularly in deep and ultra-deepwater areas. This initiative, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeks to reduce the nation's reliance on imported energy sources by supporting the drilling of exploratory wells. The program offers financial assistance to state-run firms or their consortia, covering a significant portion of exploration costs for new discoveries, with repayment contingent on successful production. The scheme also includes provisions for funding shared infrastructure to make smaller discoveries commercially viable and for developing manufacturing zones to support the growing offshore industry.