By : Sabatini Chatterjee
On June 16, 2021 the Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Modi approved the Deep Ocean Mission put forward by Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). This Mission would aid in exploring the deep ocean for resources and develop deep-sea technologies for sustainable use of Indian ocean resources.
The MoES’sDeep Ocean Mission will rest on 6-pillars:
1) Development of Technologies for Deep Sea Mining, and Manned Submersible: A manned submersible will be developed to carry three people to a depth of 6,000 metres in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools. An Integrated Mining System will also be developed for mining Polymetallic Nodules from a depth of 6,000 metres in the central Indian Ocean. The exploration studies of minerals will give way for the commercial exploitation after the necessary code is evolved by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). This pillarseeks to aid the blue economy priority area of exploring and harnessing deep-sea minerals and energy.
2)Development of Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services: A suite of observations and models will be developed to understand and provide future projections of important climate variables on seasonal to decadal time scales under this proof-of-concept component. This pillarseeks to aid the blue economy priority area of coastal tourism.
3) Technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity: The bio-prospecting of deep-sea flora and fauna including microbes and studies on sustainable utilisation of deep-sea bio-resources will be the main focus of the mission. This pillar seeks to aid the blue economy priority area of Marine Fisheries and allied services.
4) Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration: The primary objective of this component is to explore and identify potential sites of multi-metal Hydrothermal Sulphides mineralisation along the Indian Ocean mid-oceanic ridges. This pillar seeks to aid the blue economy priority area of deep-sea exploration of ocean resources.
5) Energy and freshwater from the ocean:Under this point, studies and detailed engineering design for offshore Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) powered desalination plant is envisaged in the concept proposal. This pillar seeks to aid the blue economy priority area of offshore energy development.
6) Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology: This pillar is aimed at the development of human capacity and enterprise in ocean biology and engineering. This component will translate research into the industrial application and product development through on-site business incubator facilities. This pillar seeks to aid the blue economy priority areas of Marine Biology, blue trade and blue manufacturing.
Nonetheless, for implementing such heavy Mission an estimated cost of around Rs. 4,077 croreshave been sanctioned for a period of five years in a phase-wise manner. And, the estimated cost for the first phase for2021 to2024 is at Rs. 2,823.4 crores. Furthermore, overhead costs of such Projects mostly overshoot their budgetary allocation. Apart from this, the technologies required for deep-sea mining have strategic implications and are not commercially available. So, the technologies are required to be indigenously developed which will require vast research and development, with the expense of time. The question of: How this Mission will shape out? is unknown to anyone and the topic itself is highly speculative. Thus, I can conclude that the aim of the mission is very good, but time will only tell us what this mission reaps. The author works as a Research Assistant at the Cultural Research Institute, Kolkata under Backward Class Welfare Department, Government of West Bengal.