Cabinet approves Deep Ocean Mission

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• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on "Deep Ocean Mission". 

• This Mission works to explore the deep ocean for resources and develop deep sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources. 

Key Highlights 

• The cost of the Mission has been estimated at Rs. 4,077 crore over a five-year period and will be implemented in phases. MoES will be the nodal ministry implementing this multi-institutional ambitious mission. 

• It will be a mission mode project to support the Blue Economy Initiatives of the Government of India.

• Blue Economy is the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.

• The technology and expertise needed in such missions is now available with only five countries - US, Russia, France, Japan and China. India will now be the sixth country to have it. 

About Deep Ocean Mission 

• It is an Indian initiative to undertake deep ocean exploration. It focuses on India’s exclusive economic zones and continental shelf. 

• Mission consists of various manned and unmanned submersibles to explore the sea bed. Main aim of this mission is to explore & extract polymetallic nodules which are composed of minerals such as nickel, manganese, copper, cobalt and iron hydroxide. 

• These metals are useful in manufacturing electronic devices, smartphones, solar panels and batteries.