Now Reading: Modi says 99% coastal waters opened for deep-sea exploration
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Modi says 99% coastal waters opened for deep-sea exploration
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day address that nearly 99% of India’s coastal waters, earlier classified as “no-go areas”, had been opened for deep-sea exploration. He linked the move…
The Story in Brief
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day address that nearly 99% of India’s coastal waters, earlier classified as “no-go areas”, had been opened for deep-sea exploration. He linked the move to the Samudra Manthan initiative and said the government had allocated about Rs 85,000 crore to speed up the search for offshore oil, gas and mineral reserves.
The Times of India reports that Phase I of the National Offshore Exploration Scheme has been allocated Rs 84,084 crore through 2030-31. India imports much of its crude oil and has an annual import bill of nearly $144 billion, the paper said. Modi also urged greater focus on alternative energy and efficient energy use.
The Indian Opinion
The easy narrative is that opening coastal waters will quickly make India energy independent. That is not established. Exploration needs technology, geological data, drilling capacity and environmental safeguards, while offshore reserves remain estimates. The opposite claim, that the policy has no value, is also premature. The useful test is whether exploration produces commercially recoverable reserves and reduces the crude import bill, not whether the allocation reaches Rs 85,000 crore.
Sources (2): timesnownews.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
