New Delhi: The government has pushed back the closing date for bids on India's deepwater and ultra-deepwater acreage by two months. Companies now have until November 15 to bid for offshore blocks offered under the 10th and 11th rounds of the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), according to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). It is the second time the offshore portion of the two rounds has been deferred. The previous revision had set September 17 as the closing date.
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DGH gave no reasons for the fresh deferral. Industry sources said the decision may be tied to the Samudra Manthan National Offshore Exploration Scheme announced recently.
The scheme carries an outlay of Rs 84,084 crore and is aimed at unlocking India's offshore hydrocarbon potential. It targets more than 600 million tonnes of additional oil-equivalent reserves, and provides for the government to bear up to 50 percent of the cost of drilling deep-sea and ultra-deep-sea wells.
The Union Cabinet cleared it at the end of July. The rules that will govern how it is implemented have not been announced yet, and sources said the bid deadline has been extended while that framing is pending.
The deferrals have applied only to the deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks in both rounds. Bidding for onshore and shallow-water acreage closed on June 19. Blocks in deeper waters call for larger upfront capital, more sophisticated technology and longer exploration timelines than onshore or shallow-water assets.
OALP-X was launched in February 2025 with 25 blocks spread over about 1,82,589 sq km across 13 sedimentary basins, the largest OALP round by acreage at the time.
The round put on offer six onshore blocks, six shallow-water blocks, one deepwater block and 12 ultra-deepwater blocks. Nineteen of the 25 are offshore, and the 13 deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks among them cover about 124,327 sq km.
The round's bid deadline has now moved six times. Bidding was to have closed at the end of July 2025, before the date was pushed to October 31 and then to December 31, 2025. It went next to February 18, then to September 17, and now to November 15.
OALP-XI was launched in March 2026 with 21 blocks covering 80,234.49 sq km across 11 sedimentary basins. It comprises 12 onshore blocks, four shallow-water blocks, one deepwater block and four ultra-deepwater blocks, with nine offshore blocks accounting for about 45,296 sq km.
Bidding opened on March 30 and the onshore and shallow-water blocks closed on June 19. The deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks had been given a September 17 deadline, which now stands revised to November 15. The round has seen more than one change to its dates since launch.
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Both rounds sit within a wider effort to expand domestic exploration. The government has sought to make acreage more attractive through measures including simplified licensing, revenue-sharing terms, marketing and pricing freedom, and wider access to geological and geophysical data.
DGH has described the OALP programme as part of its effort to accelerate exploration and production and draw global investment into the upstream sector. The policy, introduced under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) framework, lets companies file expressions of interest for acreage and bid for blocks the government identifies.
That effort runs against a heavy import position. India buys over 88 percent of the crude oil it consumes and about half its natural gas requirement, which places higher domestic exploration and production at the centre of its energy-security strategy.
OALP-X carries the larger offshore component of the two, while OALP-XI adds further deepwater and ultra-deepwater acreage to the government's offering.
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