ONGC is planning to invest Rs. 31,000 crores Capex in the next three years towards exploration and another Rs. 20,000 cores is awaiting board approval. 

Speaking at ONGC Investors and Analysts Meet 2022, Alka Mittal, Chairperson, ONGC Group of Companies said, "On the Capex front, the plans are both on the exploration as well as the production; creating better production, taking up better production development projects and schemes is concerned. So while we have already come up with a number of Rs. 31,000 crores towards exploration in the coming three years, on the other area as well, it's about like for this year, we have around Rs. 20,000 crores worth of projects almost about to be approved by the board because they are going to be taken up to the board." 

"And this is the way every year, last five years we have invested Rs 150,000 crores on Capex, and the trend is likely to be almost similar, a little higher, because of the kind of exploration activities we are taking up and with us going aggressive on exploration, the developmental activities after that would also pick up," added Mittal.

Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, Director - Exploration, ONGC said, "As stated, we have already disclosed our short term action plan for exploration, which is a spend of about Rs. 31,000 crores and these are directed towards increasing on data acquisition, inducting new technologies, opening new basins and increasing outgo on drilling of a number of tough and challenging wells. So that is the way, so in the near future, we are going to open another five new basins within a two to three year period. Acreages have already been acquired; an aggressive acreage acquisition plan is already on the way which is well facilitated by government policy. So the government has facilitated and 96,000 square kilometer area has been freed, and out of that ONGC is going to acquire and submit an expression of interest for acquisition of about 45,000 within this year."