Deep Ocean Mission

• Union Minister recently said that Blue Economy will be a major contributor to India’s overall economy in the years to come and the Deep Ocean Mission will be the core component of it.
• He chairing the first-ever high-level Steering Committee Meeting of Deep Ocean Mission in New Delhi.
• The Committee consisted of Union Ministers of State for Environment, External Affairs, Defence, and Finance in addition to Vice Chairman NITI Aayog.

About Deep Ocean Mission:

• Deep Ocean Mission was first proposed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences in 2017.
• Aim– To explore deep ocean for resources and develop deep sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources.
• 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.
• Ministry of Earth Sciences is the nodal Ministry implementing this multi-institutional ambitious mission.
• Six major components:
  • Development of technologies for manned submersible and integrated mining system
  • Development of ocean climate change advisory services
  • Technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deep-sea flora and fauna
  • Deep ocean survey and exploration for hydrothermal minerals
  • Energy and freshwater from the ocean- OTEC powered Desalinisation plants
  • Advanced marine station for ocean biology