• India
  • Feb 03
  • Sreesha V.M

Deep Ocean Mission gets Rs 600 crore allocation in Budget 2025-26

• India’s Deep Ocean Mission received a significant boost with a Rs 600 crore allocation for the Samudrayaan project in the Union Budget 2025-26 presented on February 1.

• India plans to send a manned-submersible, developed by the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), up to a depth of 500 metres in the ocean later this year, and gradually explore the seabed at the depth of 6,000 meters next year.

• The Ministry of Earth Sciences, which is steering the Deep Ocean Mission, got an allocation of around Rs 3,650 crore in the Union Budget.

• Sitharaman also allocated Rs 1,329 crore for Mission Mausam to improve weather forecasting capabilities.

Deep Ocean Mission

• The Ministry of Earth Sciences launched the Deep Ocean Mission in September 2021 to explore deep-sea living and  non-living resources to support the blue economy and for the sustainable harnessing of ocean resources. 

• The Deep Ocean Mission was launched as a Central Sector Scheme.

• Objectives of the Mission are intended for a better understanding of the deep sea resources of the Indian Ocean, thereby aiding efforts to expand the blue economy. 

• The activities of Deep Ocean Mission will help the components of the blue economy, such as fisheries, tourism and maritime transport, renewable energy, aquaculture, seabed resources exploration activities and marine biotechnology.

• The Deep Ocean Mission is a multi-ministerial, multi-disciplinary programme with an emphasis on the development of deep-sea technology that includes the development of a manned submersible rated for 6,000-metre water depth along with technologies for deep-sea mining, exploration of deep-sea mineral resources and marine biodiversity, development of ocean climate change advisory services, deep sea surveys and exploration, and capacity building in marine biology & deep sea technology with infrastructure development.

• The Samudrayaan project under the Deep Ocean Mission is for the development of a manned submersible to carry three people to a depth of 6,000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors for ocean exploration and observation. The vehicle is called Matsya 6000. 

• The entire vehicle design has been completed and various sub-components like underwater battery, propulsion system, underwater telephone, navigation and communication devices, power distribution and control systems, personnel sphere for 500 m water depth, lift support system, control software, etc have been realised.

• An extensive survey and exploration work is being carried out in the Central Indian Ocean Basin for polymetallic nodules (PMN) rich in nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese, etc and in central and south west Indian ridges for Polymetallic sulphides (PMS) rich in copper, zinc, etc. 

• India has signed a contract with International Sea-bed Authority (ISA) for exploration of PMN at Central Indian Ocean Basin for an area of 75,000 sq, km and PMS in central and south west Indian  ridges for an area of 10,000 sqkm.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)

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