Union Budget: Nirmala Sitharaman announces launch of Deep Ocean Mission

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on Monday said a "Deep Ocean Mission" will be launched.

"Sincere gratitude to Finance Ministry of India and Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman ji for marking an outlay of 4,000 crores rupees, over 5 years to support the Deep Ocean Mission. Ministry of Earth Sciences is committed to contributing to the nation's prosperity" the ministry tweeted

The Secretary of the Ministry, Madhavan Rajeevan posting on microblogging site said: "Ambitious mission mode program aims to explore deep ocean resources and to study biodiversity and climate change."

While announcing the Union Budget, Sitharaman said, "Our oceans are a storehouse of living and non-living resources. To better understand this realm, we will launch a Deep Ocean Mission with a budget outlay of more than Rs 4,000 crore over five years. This Mission will cover deep ocean survey exploration and projects for the conservation of deep-sea biodiversity."

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has been allocated Rs 1,897.13 crore in this year's Union Budget.

( With inputs from ANI )