The Centre will soon begin a mega ocean mission, called 'Samudrayaan' to explore the deep sea waters. With the launch of the unique ocean mission 'Samudrayaan' in October 2021, India joined the elite club of nations such as the US, Russia, Japan, France, and China to have niche technology and vehicles to carry out subsea activities.
Why India will conduct Samudrayaan Mission?
Samudrayaan Mission is aimed to develop a self-propelled manned submersible to carry three human beings to a water depth of 6,000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools for deep ocean exploration. It has an endurance of 12 hours of operational period and 96 hours in case of emergency, according to the ANI news agency.
The manned submersible will allow scientific personnel to observe and understand unexplored deep-sea areas by direct interventions. Further, it will enhance the capability for deep sea man rated vehicle development.
Huge opportunity
For India, there lies a unique maritime position, a 7517 km long coastline, which is home to nine coastal states and 1,382 islands. The Government of India's vision of 'New India' highlights the Blue Economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth.
National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, an autonomous institute under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), has developed 6000m depth rated Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and various other underwater instruments such as Autonomous Coring System (ACS), Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and Deep Sea Mining System (DSM) for the exploration of deep sea.
While launching the sea exploration initiative, Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh mentioned, "This niche technology shall facilitate Ministry of Earth Sciences, in carrying out deep ocean exploration of the non-living resources such as polymetallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydro-thermal sulphides, and cobalt crusts, located at a depth between 1000 and 5500 meters."
Oceans, which cover 70 percent of the globe, remain a key part of our life. About 95 percent of the Deep Ocean remains unexplored. For India, with its three sides surrounded by the oceans and around 30 percent of the nation's population living in coastal areas and coastal regions play a major economic factor. It supports fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, livelihoods, and blue trade.
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