Parliament Question: Impact and Achievements of the Deep Ocean Mission

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2944 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 5TH AUGUST, 2026 IMPACT AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE DEEP OCEAN MISSION

2944. SHRI RAO RAJENDRA SINGH:

Will the Minister of Earth Sciences be pleased to state:

(a) the details of impact of the Deep Ocean Mission in tapping ocean resources and promoting the blue economy in the country;

(b) the notable achievements made under the Deep Ocean Mission since its inception; and

(c) the details of measures taken under the Deep Ocean Mission to ensure ethical and environmentally sustainable practices in exploration and resource utilisation? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a) Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) is a flagship initiative launched by the Government of India in 2021, encompassing activities across six verticals. These verticals are (1) Development of Technologies for Deep-sea mining, Human Submersible and underwater robotics, (2) Development of Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services, (3) Technological Innovations for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity,

(4) Deep-ocean survey and exploration, (5) Energy and fresh water from the ocean, and

(6) Establishment of Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology. The research and activities under the Mission aim to explore and harness ocean living and non-living resources (such as biodiversity, polymetallic nodules, polymetallic sulphides, and ocean thermal energy) as part of the pilot project for developing India’s Blue Economy.

(b) The notable achievements made under the Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) are as follows:

DOM Progress

Vertical:

Thematic area Vertical 1: The design and system engineering for India’s flagship human Development submersible, MATSYA-6000, are complete; subsystems have been of realised; and crewed and uncrewed wet harbour trials at 8m depth technologies were conducted from 22nd January 2025 to 14th February 2025 at for manned Kattupalli, near Chennai. Scientists at the National Institute of Ocean submersible, Technology (NIOT), Chennai, entrusted with the development of deep-sea MATSYA-6000, have gained pilot experience with the French mining and submersible NAUTILE in August 2025. The design of the self- underwater propelled deep-sea nodule collector/deep-sea mining machine is vehicles and complete, and a successful demonstration of the collection of over underwater 100 kg of Cobalt-rich deep-sea polymetallic nodules from a depth of robotics 1173m was conducted in the Andaman Sea in 2024.Vertical 2: A suite of ocean models for downscaling sea level, wave, storm Development surge, and biogeochemical projections of the Indian Ocean;

of ocean prediction of 100-year extreme sea level along the coasts of the climate Indian subcontinent and associated coastal vulnerability maps; change Genesis Potential Index for cyclones in the Bay of Bengal; and a advisory wave model for Indian Ocean wave climate analysis have been services completed. To strengthen ocean observation, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, has successfully completed 11 glider missions in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and deployed 60 directional Wave Spectra Barometric Drifters and 92 physical and biogeochemical Argo floats in the Indian Ocean.

Vertical 3: Detailed profiling and characterisation studies, including genomic Technological analysis, screening for industrially useful molecules, and the innovations preservation of select deep-sea microbial samples, have been for conducted. Nearly 2038 deep-sea microbes have been isolated from exploration water and sediment samples in the Indian EEZ, and rare deep-sea and microbes previously unreported from the Indian Ocean have been conservation discovered. A Marine Microbial Repository is being established at of deep-sea Chittedu, Andhra Pradesh. Nearly 31 seamounts biodiversity (biodiversity hotspots) in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal have been surveyed by the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE), Kochi, which documented 201 deep-sea species, including 43 potentially new to science.

Vertical 4: Deep-sea expeditions in the Central and Southwest Indian Ridges Deep ocean have been conducted, leading to the discovery of four hydrothermal survey and vent fields and two inactive vents (potential mineralised zones), exploration including India’s first imaging of an active vent. A contract has been (and research awarded to GRSE, Kolkata (a PSU under the Ministry of Defence), ship) for the indigenous construction of a new multipurpose, all-weather ocean research vessel. The design of the new oceanographic research vessel, model tests, and keel laying have been completed.

Vertical 5: A detailed project report for a high-capacity offshore Ocean Thermal Energy and Energy Conversion (OTEC)-powered desalination plant has been freshwater prepared. from the ocean Vertical 6: Land for setting up the Advanced Marine Station in Nemmeli, Advanced Chennai, has been procured. 145 collaborative research projects with Marine nearly 70 national institutions, including universities, colleges, and Station for laboratories, are ongoing across various areas of ocean/marine Ocean sciences.

Biology

(c) For deep-sea resource exploration and utilisation, the draft Mining Code of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) incorporates stringent environmental safeguards, including the precautionary approach, environmental baseline studies, environmental impact assessments (EIAs), environmental management and monitoring programmes, and adaptive management measures to protect the marine environment. India participates in the consultative approach implemented by the ISA to develop these safeguards. The Mining Code has yet to be ratified by the ISA.

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