New Delhi: India is embarking on what could be one of the world's first large-scale programmes to fund high-risk offshore oil and gas exploration directly from the national budget, wagering that the country's largely untapped deepwater reserves can help curb its growing dependence on imported crude and gas.
The Union Cabinet last week approved the Rs 84,084-crore Samudra Manthan National Offshore Exploration Scheme, under which the government will fund half of the the cost of drilling a deepsea and ultra-deep water exploration well or Rs 650 crore, whichever is lower, directly from the budget, officials said.
