Rs 10K cr deep ocean mission likely by March

Dr M Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, said that the detailed project report (DPR) is under preparation and the city-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) is the nodal agency in this inter-ministry project. 

“This is the first time that a national mission by different ministries is being undertaken. We are in the process of making a proposal. The estimated budget is Rs 10,000 crore and hopefully, the government will approve it,” he said, on the sidelines of the India International Science Festival (IISF). 

Deep Sea Mission will focus on creating blue technology by exploiting deep sea genetic biodiversity, exploring deep water fishing and non-living aspects such as renewable energy (ocean energy, wave energy) as well as areas such as poly-metallic manganese nodule exploration and research in technology to extract gas hydrates. 

Dr SSC Shenoi, Director – INCOIS and NIOT, said that the institute has tested the crawler and developed soil tester, taking a step towards developing technology to mine manganese nodules. 

“We have identified the presence of these nodules in the Central Indian Ocean and the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has designated 0.75 million square km to India for exploration and development of mining technology, which is 6,000 kilometres away from the Indian coast and at a depth of six kilometres. We need to develop technology to explore this over the next five years,” said the director.