Deep Ocean Mission to be implemented by Centre at budget of Rs 4077 cr during 2021-2026

Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that the Deep Ocean Mission will be implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences at a total budget of Rs 4077 crore for 5 years during the period 2021-2026.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, he said, "Even private institutions will be included for the development of technologies for this mission to explore the possibilities of mining, bio-diversity, energy, fresh water etc in the deep ocean and to support the 'blue economy'.

Ministry of Earth Sciences through contractual agreements with the International Seabed Authority (ISA), is carrying out exploration activities for Poly-metallic Nodules (PMN) in the Central Indian Ocean Basin and for Poly-metallic Sulphides (PMS) in parts of Central and South-West Indian ridges.

As per the official release by the ministry, preliminary estimates indicate 380 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) of Polymetallic Nodules comprising Copper, Nickel, Cobalt and Manganese are available within an allocated area of 75000 square kilometres for exploration of PMN in the Central Indian Ocean Basin.

The estimated value of these metals is about 110 billion US dollars. The polymetallic sulphides are expected to contain rare earth minerals including gold and silver.

The United States of America, France, Japan, Russia and China are the major countries to have similar technologies.

On August 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the UNSC High-Level Open Debate on "Enhancing Maritime Security: A Case For International Cooperation" and had said, "India has launched a Deep Ocean Mission as well. We have also taken several steps to promote sustainable fishing."

( With inputs from ANI )