Archive · 10 Sep 2026
Oil India Links Samudra Manthan Mission to Energy Exploration
Oil India Limited wants to use new ideas and technology to find more energy resources.
It is working with IIT Guwahati on research projects and startups.
One project studies enzymes that could help make ethanol from bamboo more efficiently.
Ethanol is a fuel that can be made from plants.
Oil India’s chairman also praised the Samudra Manthan Mission.
The mission will allow exploration for oil and gas in deep parts of the sea.
It covers about one million square kilometres of India’s maritime territory.
The government plans to spend about $8 billion on deep-sea exploration, including money to collect important geological data.
Oil India Limited is expanding its focus on research, innovation and energy-sector startups.
The company is collaborating with the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati on technology projects.
One project aims to develop enzymes that improve ethanol and bio-product production from bamboo.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Samudra Manthan Mission will expand deepwater and ultra-deepwater oil and gas exploration.
The plan covers about one million square kilometres and includes around $8 billion for deep-sea exploration, including $2.4 billion for data acquisition.
- Who
- Oil India Limited, its Chairman and Managing Director Dr Ranjit Rath, the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and the Indian government.
- What
- Oil India is pursuing research and startup collaborations while supporting the Samudra Manthan Mission’s offshore exploration plans.
- When
- The article does not provide a specific date; it refers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recently announced mission.
- Where
- Projects involve IIT Guwahati, while exploration will cover India’s offshore territory, eastern and western coasts, exclusive economic zone and the Andaman Basin.
- Why
- The initiatives aim to improve energy technologies, develop bio-based fuels and expand India’s understanding and exploration of offshore oil and gas resources.
- Company
- Oil India Limited (OIL)
- Research partner
- Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
- Biomass project
- Development of enzymes to improve ethanol and other bamboo-based bio-product production
- Exploration area
- About one million square kilometres of Indian maritime territory
- Target areas
- Deepwater and ultra-deepwater areas, including the eastern and western coasts, the exclusive economic zone and the Andaman Basin
- Planned investment
- Around $8 billion for deep-sea exploration
- Data acquisition allocation
- Approximately $2.4 billion