India has opened one million sq. km of its 3.5 million sq. km sedimentary basin, previously classified as a ‘No-Go’ area, for hydrocarbon exploration, according to Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “visionary leadership” for this move aimed at boosting domestic oil and gas production and reducing import dependence.

The Minister emphasised that the government has implemented several measures to ease business in the exploration and production (E&P) sector, including the replacement of the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) with the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). Under OALP IX, 38 percent of bids targeted these newly accessible zones, and this could rise to 75 per cent in OALP X.

OALP X is India’s largest round to date, offering 25 blocks across 13 sedimentary basins covering 1,91,986.21 sq. km. The blocks include six on land, six in shallow offshore areas, one in deep water, and 12 in ultra-deep water.