India is in the final stages of rolling out the ambitious “Samudra Manthan” programme, which is aimed at exploring deep-sea oil, gas, and mineral reserves, and there is adequate investor interest too, Petroleum Secretary Neeraj Mittal said on Monday during his address at the CII Annual Business Summit 2026.
"There will be no shortage of investment. The govt needs to step in for high-risk activities in the exploration. We are almost at the final stage of the Samudra Manthan programme, " added Mittal during his address, asserting the preparedness of the government to deal with the energy crisis.
He also asserted that there was “no need to panic” over fuel availability, stressing that the country has adequate supplies and that no rationing measures will be implemented.
He emphasized that India has been able to successfully navigate through the energy crisis, at a time when other countries increased the prices and also several other measures including source diversification, increasing the production capacity, have helped to protect the Indian consumers. Such measures that safeguarded Indian consumers amid the crisis will boost the investors' sentiment and they will "stay and make money", asserted Mittal.
Mittal said the government’s policy measures would provide long-term confidence to investors and energy companies looking to participate in India’s exploration push.
The Samudra Manthan mission, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is designed to unlock India’s untapped offshore energy and mineral potential by intensifying deep-seabed exploration.
The initiative is expected to focus on identifying hidden reserves of crude oil, natural gas and critical minerals as India seeks to strengthen energy security and reduce import dependence.
On strategic petroleum reserves, Mittal acknowledged the challenge of maintaining large emergency crude stockpiles for a major energy consumer like India, which has a demand of nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil per day.
“For smaller countries like Japan, having a strategic reserve for 90 days is easier. For a country like India, having reserves for 90 days would mean putting a lot of money under a box,” he said.
He added that India is exploring “creative ways” to manage reserves, including arrangements with trading partners to ensure crude stocks continue generating returns instead of remaining idle.
