Discuss how policy reforms since 2016 (HELP-OALP) have reshaped India's hydrocarbon exploration landscape. Illustrate with recent offshore developments.

Q. Discuss how policy reforms since 2016 (HELP-OALP) have reshaped India's hydrocarbon exploration landscape. Illustrate with recent offshore developments. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

India's Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) and the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP), both launched in 2016, replaced the NELP regime with a uniform licence, revenue-sharing fiscal terms and investor-chosen acreage [2]. A decade on, the reforms have visibly shifted exploration from a rigid, bid-round-bound activity to a continuous, frontier-oriented one — as the ongoing Mahanadi deepwater campaign illustrates [1].

Reform of the fiscal and licensing architecture - The shift from the Production Sharing Contract to the Revenue Sharing Contract model (2015) ended cost-recovery disputes and reduced regulatory micro-management [2]. - A single Uniform Licence allows conventional oil, gas, shale and coal-bed methane from one block, ending fragmented approvals [2]. - OALP lets companies bid for acreage of their own choosing round-the-year using National Data Repository data, instead of waiting for government-notified blocks [2].

Widening the exploration frontier - Nearly 99% of erstwhile "No-Go" areas of India's Exclusive Economic Zone, closed for decades on strategic grounds, have been opened for exploration through inter-ministerial coordination [2]. - Under OALP, 172 blocks covering about 3.8 lakh sq km have been awarded, with committed investment exceeding USD 4.3 billion [1][3].

Recent offshore developments - ONGC's two gas discoveries in a Mahanadi offshore block — 94% of which lay in the former No-Go zone — directly demonstrate the payoff of opening restricted acreage [2]. - On 25 July 2026, drilling of MN-DWN18-1-HD, the first of four planned deepwater appraisal wells in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin, was spudded, marking the move from discovery to assessing commercial viability [1]. - In FY 2025-26, the OALP regime recorded 674 wells drilled, five discoveries and seven discoveries monetised [1].

The reforms have thus converted policy liberalisation into measurable drilling activity in India's east-coast deepwater. Sustaining it requires stable fiscal terms, indigenous deepwater technology and rigorous environmental safeguards for sensitive marine zones. Aligned with Atmanirbhar Bharat, such calibrated exploration can meaningfully narrow India's import dependence.

(~320 words)

Sources: 1. Spudding of first appraisal well, MN-DWN18-1-HD, begins in Mahanadi offshore basin, PIB (25 July 2026) — spudding of the first of four deepwater appraisal wells; OALP block/investment scale; FY 2025-26 drilling and discovery figures 2. India witnesses renewed spurt in oil and gas exploration: Petroleum Minister Hardeep S Puri, PIB — HELP/OALP (2016), PSC-to-RSC shift (2015), uniform licence, opening of "No-Go" EEZ areas, ONGC Mahanadi gas discoveries 3. India Reinforces Commitment to Energy Security and Exploration Growth: OALP IX & Special DSF Signing Ceremony, PIB — acreage awarded and exploration investment under successive OALP rounds