⇒ Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal of Ministry of Earth Sciences on ‘Deep Ocean Mission’.
Objective:
The “Deep Sea Mission” has been approved with an objective to explore Deep Ocean for resources, and develop deep sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources.
Estimated Cost of the Mission:
The estimated cost of the Mission will be Rs 4077 crore for a period of 5 years to be implemented in a phase-wise manner. The estimated cost for the first phase for the 3 years (2021-2024) would be Rs 2823.4 crore.
Nodal Ministry:
Deep Ocean Mission will be a mission mode project to support the Blue Economy Initiatives of the Government of India. The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) will be the nodal ministry to implement this multi-institutional ambitious mission.
The Deep Ocean Mission consists six major components:
- Development of Technologies for Deep Sea Mining, and Manned Submersible
- Development of Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services
- Technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity
- Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration
- Energy and freshwater from the Ocean
- Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology
2021-2030 as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development:
Oceans are storehouse of food, energy, minerals, medicines, modulator of weather and climate and underpin life on Earth. Considering importance of the oceans on sustainability, the United Nations has declared the decade, 2021-2030 as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
In India, Blue Economy as one of the core dimensions of growth:
India has a unique maritime position. Its 7517 km long coastline is home to nine coastal states and 1382 islands. The Government of India’s Vision of New India by 2030 enunciated in February 2019 highlighted the Blue Economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth.