India eyes major oil discovery in Andaman Sea, says Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
New Delhi: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri has indicated that India could soon witness a significant oil discovery in the Andaman Sea. In an interview published by The New Indian, Puri informed about the government’s ongoing efforts to boost domestic oil and gas exploration which is backed by regulatory reforms and growing investment across India’s energy sector.
He traced this momentum to policy changes that began in 2016 and under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), India has unlocked new sedimentary basins for exploration. Puri noted that out of India’s 3.5 million square kilometres of sedimentary basins, nearly 1 million square kilometres have been opened for bidding. In OALP Round 9, close to 38% of the bids targeted these newly opened areas and the minister expects that share to grow to 80% in the next round. The latest auction, covering 250,000 square kilometres, is India’s largest to date.
Puri cited Guyana’s experience where ExxonMobil struck oil after drilling over 40 wells, each costing around $100 million. He pointed to ONGC’s drilling activity in 2023-24 as a sign of India’s growing seriousness. “ONGC this year has dug the maximum number of wells. Highest in 37 years,” he said. In financial year 2024, ONGC drilled 541 wells, including 103 exploratory and 438 development wells and ₹37,000 crore was the capital expenditure.
The minister said “Now things are changing, and I’m very confident that we’ll find many more oil fields. Very very quickly,” he said.
Turning to recent legislative reforms, Puri discussed the Oil Fields Regulation and Development Amendment Bill introduced this year. The bill replaces outdated regulations dating back to 1948, which previously covered multiple resource sectors, including coal, minerals and petroleum, often causing regulatory ambiguity. He said “It(the bill) rectifies that. It helps to solve the problems and also achieves the goals for those private companies in terms of no objection certificates, which they could not earlier. The bill has been brought after large-scale interaction with industry players… The rules and regulations that we are implementing under that are also subject to public consultation.”
Puri expressed confidence that these policy changes, combined with potential discoveries, could fuel rapid economic growth. “Apart from these little discoveries which are coming, which could turn out to be very big also, that we find Guyana and then you will go from a $3.7 trillion economy to a $20 trillion economy straight away.”
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UDF leaders see local body poll trends as pointer to 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Buoyed by the strong performance of the Congress-led UDF in the local body polls, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the front's results indicated the people had rejected the LDF government.
According to early trends, the UDF was leading in more grama panchayats, block panchayats, municipalities and corporations than the LDF.
The local body polls were held in two phases in the state earlier this week.
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Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said the people of Kerala had extended their support to the UDF.
"We could expose the LDF government’s anti-people stance and the people understood it. The LDF’s fake propaganda was rejected by the people. The UDF is moving towards a historic victory," he said.
He said a united effort, proper preparations, good candidate selection and hard work had resulted in the Congress and the UDF’s victory in the elections.
Asked about the prospects in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Joseph said the party was studying the matter and would comment later.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the results would be closely examined.
According to him, the government had done everything possible for the people.
"Why such a verdict happened will be examined at the micro level. People’s opinion will be considered and further steps will be taken," he said.
He added that decisions would be taken after analysing the results. "If any corrective measures are required, we will initiate them and move forward," he said.
AICC leader K C Venugopal said the results showed that people had begun ousting those who, he alleged, were responsible for the loss of gold at Lord Ayyappa’s temple.
"This trend will continue in the Assembly elections as well. It is an indication that the people are ready to bring down the LDF government," he said.
Venugopal said the UDF had registered victories even in CPI(M) and LDF strongholds.
"I congratulate all UDF workers for their hard work. Congress workers and leaders worked unitedly," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Congress on polling day, Venugopal said the voters had responded through the verdict.
"I do not know whether the chief minister understands that the people are against him. Otherwise, he does not know the sentiment of the people. The state government cannot move an inch further," he said.
He said the results indicated a strong comeback for the UDF in Kerala.
Asked whether the Sabarimala gold loss issue had affected the LDF in the local polls, Venugopal said the CM and the CPI(M) state secretary did not take the issue seriously.
"We took a strong stand on the matter. The BJP played a foul game in it," he alleged.
On the BJP's role in the local body elections, Venugopal alleged that the party operated with the CPI(M) 's tacit support.
"The CPI(M) supported the central government on issues such as PM-SHRI, labour codes and corruption in national highway construction. The CPI(M) is facing ideological decline, and the state government’s policies are against the party’s own decisions," he said.
Meanwhile, LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said the party could not win all the wards it had expected in the elections.
He congratulated winners from all parties and said the party would closely examine the losses and identify shortcomings. "Later, we will take corrective measures," he added.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rajmohan Unnithan said the trends in the local body elections indicated that the UDF would return to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
"We will win 111 seats as in 1977 and return to power in 2026. The anti-government sentiment of the people is reflected in the elections," he said.
Unnithan said the people were disturbed and unhappy with the present government.
"The trend indicates the end of the LDF government," he added.
CPI(M) MLA M M Mani said the people had shown ingratitude towards the LDF despite benefiting from welfare schemes.
"After receiving all welfare schemes and living comfortably, people voted against us due to some temporary sentiments. Is that not ingratitude," he asked.
Mani said no such welfare initiatives had taken place in Kerala earlier.
"People are receiving pensions and have enough to eat. Even after getting all this, they voted against us. This is what can be called ingratitude," he said.
Muslim League state president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the results were beyond expectations.
"The outcome points towards the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, indicating that a change of government is imminent. We are going to win the Assembly election," he said.
