New Delhi [India], December 29 (ANI): India has reached a transformative milestone in its energy sector with the offering of 50 new exploration and production (E&P) blocks across oil, gas and coal bed methane (CBM) assets, signalling a renewed push to unlock domestic hydrocarbon potential and strengthen the country’s energy security, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday.
In a post on X, Puri said the move reflects the government’s commitment under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and underscores India’s openness to both global and domestic investors.
“We are offering 50 new E&P blocks across Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP-X): 25 blocks, Discovered Small Field (DSF-IV): 55 fields across nine contract areas or blocks, and Special CBM Bid Rounds 2025 and 2026 with three blocks in 2025 and 13 blocks in 2026,” the minister said.
According to details shared by the minister, the OALP-X round includes 25 blocks covering approximately 1.83 lakh square kilometres. These comprise six onland blocks, six shallow-water blocks, one deepwater block and 12 ultra-deepwater blocks.
Highlighting the key features, Puri said exploration rights will be retained throughout the contract duration, with revenue sharing at the lower revenue point for the initial five to seven years in Category-I basins. There will be no revenue sharing in Category-II and Category-III basins until windfall gains accrue, along with graded reductions in offshore royalty rates and flexibility to swap work programmes.
“The quest to unlock the potential of India’s sedimentary basins gains a new thrust and momentum,” the minister said.
In parallel, the Discovered Small Field Bid Round-IV includes 55 discoveries spread across nine contract areas, aimed at accelerating the transition from discovery to production. For this round, incentives include zero royalty for the first seven years in deepwater areas, full marketing freedom on an arm’s-length basis and relaxed eligibility norms, with prior experience in oil and gas not being mandatory.
Similar incentives and flexibility apply to the CBM bid rounds. These include full pricing freedom, no overlap with coal blocks or mines and, for the 2026 round, government reimbursement of costs for mandated core-hole drilling.
Puri also highlighted the introduction of a unified regulatory framework enabled by the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Act, 2025, and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 2025. These reforms delink petroleum operations from mining and introduce a revenue-sharing contract model to improve ease of doing business.
The framework provides for a single licence covering both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons, allows exploration throughout the contract duration, offers graded reductions in royalty rates and ensures stability in the event of changes in law.
Referring to the special CBM round, the minister said the Special CBM Bid Round-2025 is currently live, offering three onland blocks, including two blocks in the Raniganj Coalfield in West Bengal and one block in the Cambay Basin in Gujarat.
The expanded offering, the minister said, reflects India’s determination to boost domestic energy production while creating an investor-friendly ecosystem to support long-term energy security.
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