Question

Major oil finds in India have been reported in

• A. Krishna Godavari Basin
• B. Cauvery Basin
• C. Rajasthan Desert
• D. Lower Assam Valley

Hint:

Think of the offshore basin linked to Reliance's landmark natural gas discovery in the early 2000s.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

This is a geography and current-affairs style question about India's petroleum sector, so it helps to rank the four basins by how significant and recent their finds were.

1. Krishna Godavari Basin: Correct. This basin off Andhra Pradesh's coast became famous after Reliance Industries struck a huge natural gas reserve there (the KG-D6 block) in the early 2000s, making it the standout hydrocarbon story of that decade.
2. Cauvery Basin: This basin does have oil and gas potential, but its output and discoveries were on a much smaller scale, so it does not fit the description of "major" finds.
3. Rajasthan Desert: The Barmer oilfields discovered here by Cairn India were significant for onshore Indian oil, but they were smaller in scale and impact compared to the KG Basin gas discovery.
4. Lower Assam Valley: This region is home to some of India's oldest oilfields, dating back to the colonial era, so it does not represent a "major" recent find as asked in the question.

Comparing the four choices, the Krishna Godavari Basin clearly stands out as the site of the largest and most talked-about hydrocarbon discovery of the period, dwarfing the other three in scale and media attention.

Let's summarize:

• KG Basin became India's top hydrocarbon story after Reliance's gas discovery in the early 2000s.
• Cauvery, Rajasthan, and Assam all have oil history, but none matched KG Basin's scale during this period.

So the correct answer is Krishna Godavari Basin, option (A).