Cairn Oil & Gas supports India’s energy aatmanirbharta by accelerating E&P activities in India
New Delhi, 16th August 2025: Cairn Oil & Gas, part of Vedanta Group, and India’s largest private oil and gas exploration and production company, has kicked off a large exploration campaign to unlock hydrocarbons from Indian sedimentary basins and increase production to meet the country’s growing energy requirements, and reduce its import dependency, especially in the changing geo-political environment.
With a vision to increase its production to 300,000 boepd contributing to India’s Swadeshi movement towards achieving energy security, Cairn has charted a strategic growth plan focussed on forging partnerships with global oil and gas companies, service and rig providers, to fastrack exploration and production. The company’s planned investment of USD 4-5 billion over the next 3-4 years covers both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons – across Deep and Shallow waters offshore in the East and West Coast, and onshore in Rajasthan and North-East.
While high-powered drilling rigs are already deployed at Cairn’s Onshore operational sites, the company is also set to begin drilling exploratory wells in its offshore blocks in Ambe and Dwarka on the West Coast. To further strengthen the west coast portfolio, Cairn acquired three shallow water blocks in OALP Round IX.
The company has also planned investments and locked-in partners for deepwater exploration in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin off India’s east coast, where it has conducted a 3D Controlled Source Electromagnetic Survey (CSEM) survey with a Norwegian company, EMGS. Drilling is set to begin in 2026 in the 3,600 sq. km area.
India, the world’s third-largest energy consumer and the fastest growing large economy, imports nearly 90% of its crude requirements. Despite the heavy reliance on imports, only 16% of the country’s sedimentary basins have been explored so far, highlighting the significant potential in India’s hydrocarbon basins.
“Energy security is fundamental to a country’s progress”, Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal had said in an earlier social media post.
“India holds immense untapped potential of hydrocarbon reserves and we at Vedanta, remain fully committed to unlocking this opportunity. With technology enabled drilling programs and encouraging prospects from the North-East, we are focused on boosting domestic production and reducing import dependency. This sector delivers maximum value – in revenue generation, job creation and long-term national growth, without any subsidies. Globally, economies have been built and developed on the backbone of oil and gas sector. Now, it is India’s turn – to explore, to produce and to lead”, he had said in another post on social media.
Cairn has a total of 63 blocks spread across an acreage of 73,000 sq. km. The company has partnered with many global oil and gas technology companies and service providers such as Technip FMC and Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) for Deepwater exploration, 2H Offshore, Nabors, Weatherford, Haliburton and Baker Hughes for exploration and production in its onshore and offshore fields.