MP Satish Babu seeks greater share for AP under Samudra Manthan initiative

Rajya Sabha MP Sana Satish Babu urged the Centre to ensure Andhra Pradesh receives a significant share of the benefits under ‘Samudra Manthan: A Landmark Initiative for Offshore Exploration and Viksit Bharat’ during the Consultative Committee meeting of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas held in New Delhi on Monday.

The meeting, chaired by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, focused on expanding India’s offshore exploration and strengthening the country’s energy security.

Welcoming the Union government’s ambitious initiative, Sana Satish Babu congratulated the Ministry and highlighted that the Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin, one of India’s most promising offshore hydrocarbon regions, is located off the Andhra Pradesh coast. He stressed that the State should receive maximum benefits from the programme considering its strategic importance in India’s energy landscape.

The Rajya Sabha member proposed establishing an Oil and Gas Manufacturing Zone in Andhra Pradesh by leveraging the State’s ports, industrial ecosystem and skilled workforce. He also recommended setting up an offshore skill development and training centre in coastal Andhra Pradesh to equip local youth with specialised skills and enable MSMEs to participate in the offshore energy supply chain.

Sana Satish Babu further urged the Centre to allocate a fixed share of newly discovered deepwater wells in the KG Basin, taking into account the region’s vast hydrocarbon potential. He also sought the development of a common offshore infrastructure hub at either Kakinada or Visakhapatnam to support processing, evacuation and logistics for offshore exploration projects.

Emphasising the importance of local participation, the MP called for priority employment opportunities for youth from coastal Andhra Pradesh under the Samudra Manthan initiative.

He said Andhra Pradesh, with its 974-km coastline, resource-rich KG Basin, world-class ports and robust industrial base, is ideally positioned to emerge as India’s offshore energy hub. He expressed confidence that the Samudra Manthan initiative would not only strengthen the State’s economy but also contribute significantly to India’s energy security, industrial development and large-scale employment generation.