Unleashing India's Hidden Energy Treasure: The Untapped Potential of Gas Hydrates

Under the extensive waters off India's coast is a gigantic energy reserve that could change the future of the country; gas hydrates. These crystalline lattice structures, which enclose methane in their icy form, are found in large quantities along the seabed, especially off the Andaman Islands and the Krishna-Godavari (KG) offshore basin. Based on the International Energy Agency's “India Energy Outlook 2021”, India's gas hydrate reserves are pegged at an enormous 1,894 trillion cubic meters, more than a thousand times larger than India's coal bed methane potential of 1.3 trillion cubic meters. To put this into perspective, one cubic meter of gas hydrate contains as much as 160 to 180 cubic meters of methane, a highly flammable natural gas. If harnessed, this resource could fuel India’s energy needs for generations. Yet, despite its promise, India has struggled to tap into this underwater goldmine, leaving a critical question unanswered: why has progress stalled?

The allure of gas hydrates lies not just in their volume but in their potential impact. The Ministry of Science and Technology in 2020 pointed out that even conservatively, it is estimated the methane trapped in the KG Basin alone is double the sum total of all of the world's fossil fuel deposits. This is an enticing option for a country desperate to curb its dependence on imported energy and shift to cleaner sources. Methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, is cleaner-burning than coal or oil, a bridge to a lower-carbon future. But tapping this resource is not easy. Drilling for gas hydrates presents daunting technical challenges—seafloor collapse risks, methane leaks that can damage marine life, and water treatment requirements released during the process. Though these difficulties exist, professionals such as Dr. N Vedachalam of the National Institute of Ocean Technology believe that they are not inevitable with appropriate innovation and investment.

India's quest to tap gas hydrates started decades back with the National Gas Hydrate Programme (NGHP), officially launched in 1997 after conceptualization over several years. Approved as a priority by the Oil Industry Development Board in 2016, the program has significantly progressed. Two large drilling campaigns in 2006 by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons and in 2015 reiterated massive hydrate deposits in the KG and Mahanadi basins and off the coast of the Andamans. The initial expedition found a 120-meter-thick layer of hydrate 40 meters below the bottom of the KG Basin, and the second detected a 150-square-kilometer prospective area. These discoveries rekindled the optimism, but the pace has since subsided. At the latest India Energy Week conference in Delhi, a top-flight event staged by the Oil Ministry, gas hydrates registered no more than a passing reference—an omission which astonished many analysts.

Questioned on it in a media interaction, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri shrugged it off onto Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain, who averred that by the extant petroleum policy on licensing, hydrocarbon recovery—from which falls extracting gas hydrates—is a mandate for concessionaires. This go-it-alone stance by the government indicates a move away from direct action, allowing the private sector to battle its way through complexity. However, development is slow, and other countries are looked to for comparison. The United States, Canada, and Japan also have gas hydrate reserves, but their economic agendas are not the same. The U.S. relies on shale gas, and Japan has experimented with extraction in the Nankai Trough without compelling need to expand. India, though, has a special imperative: energy security in the context of high economic growth.

So, why is India lagging behind? The reason might be a combination of technical, economic, and policy reasons. Producing gas hydrates requires state-of-the-art technology that is still in the process of developing worldwide—no nation has yet figured out how to produce commercially at scale. For India, the initial investment and risk may discourage investment, particularly when lower-cost, quicker options such as coal or imported LNG are still on the table. Critics say that it is a weak argument to invoke other countries' slow pace of progress for a nation that aims to be a world leader—or *vishwaguru* in status. The NGHP's meticulous technical studies gather dust, and the quietude since the 2015 expedition indicates a lack of urgency or defined strategy.

Still, the potential rewards are too vast to ignore. Imagine a future where India powers its cities and industries with methane extracted from its own waters, slashing import bills and curbing emissions. The technology to make this a reality may not be fully mature, but neither is it out of reach. Advances in drilling, methane capture, and environmental safeguards could turn gas hydrates into a game-changer. For the present, however, this energy boon lies dormant in the depths, a symbol of what might have been, if only India was able to garner the will and means to get it.