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NIOT Chennai has developed a seabed mining system whose mobility and system-powering trials were completed at a depth of 5,270 metres in the Central Indian Ocean Basin.
The site is allocated to India by the International Seabed Authority; nodule collection and crushing components are being developed under ISA guidelines.
India holds ISA exploration contracts for both polymetallic nodules and polymetallic sulphides in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Only exploration of deep seabed minerals in the international seabed is currently permitted; commercial exploitation is not.
CMLRE Kochi has conducted about 19 surveys in three years to assess fishery resources and marine biodiversity in India's EEZ.
Polymetallic nodules are potato-sized concretions of manganese, nickel, copper and cobalt that lie loose on the abyssal plain, formed over millions of years by metal precipitating around a nucleus. They are attractive because they carry precisely the metals a battery and electronics economy needs, and because they sit on the seabed rather than under it, so no drilling is required. The difficulty is depth. At around 5,000 metres the pressure is roughly five hundred times atmospheric, there is no light, and every component — motors, cables, hydraulics, electronics housings — must survive that environment while a collector crawls across soft sediment that will not bear much weight. That is why the trial reported here is significant in the specific way it is reported: not a mining demonstration but 'mobility and system-powering' trials at 5,270 metres, meaning the machine moved and stayed powered at operational depth. Polymetallic sulphides are the other target and form differently, precipitating from hydrothermal vents along mid-ocean ridges, and are richer in copper, zinc, gold and silver. Both lie in the international seabed — the 'Area' beyond any nation's jurisdiction — which is why the International Seabed Authority, and not India alone, allocates the sites and sets the rules.
Simple Analogy: Collecting nodules is less like mining and more like vacuuming gravel off a soft carpet — in the dark, under the weight of a five-kilometre column of water.
Develops technologies for reliable and sustainable harvesting of polymetallic nodules; built the seabed mining system tested at 5,270 metres and is developing nodule collection and crushing components in line with ISA guidelines
Allocates exploration areas in the international seabed beyond national jurisdiction, signs exploration contracts and issues the guidelines under which resource assessment and environmental impact assessment must be conducted
Assesses and monitors marine living resources in India's EEZ; estimates the potential fishery yield every eight years, identifies Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas and fish spawning grounds, and builds biodiversity inventories and genomic reference libraries
Signs the ISA exploration contracts on India's behalf and runs the Deep Ocean Mission through NIOT, CMLRE and its other institutes
Build India's capability in deep-sea exploration, technology and living and non-living resource assessment
Key: A multi-institutional mission of the Ministry of Earth Sciences approved with an estimated cost of Rs 4,077 crore across two phases over 2021-2026, targeting polymetallic nodules and other deep-sea minerals alongside ocean climate advisory services and deep-sea biodiversity
Enable reliable and sustainable harvesting of polymetallic nodules
Key: Mobility and system-powering trials completed at 5,270 metres in the Central Indian Ocean Basin at the ISA-allocated site; nodule collection and crushing components are under development in accordance with ISA guidelines
Secure India's rights to explore deep seabed minerals beyond national jurisdiction
Key: MoES holds contracts with the ISA for both Polymetallic Nodules and Polymetallic Sulphides in the Indian Ocean; resource assessment, environmental impact assessment and multidisciplinary oceanographic studies are contractual obligations to establish baseline conditions and assess effects on deep-sea ecosystems
Assess, monitor and manage the living resources of India's Exclusive Economic Zone
Key: Run by CMLRE with about 19 surveys in 2023-2026; outputs include potential fishery yield estimation for the Indian EEZ every eight years, identification of Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas, biodiversity inventories, genomic reference libraries, identification of fish spawning grounds and seasons, and data submission for the Convention on Biological Diversity and Sustainable Development Goal 14
Preserve and document deep-sea biological specimens for the long term
Key: A national repository under the CMLRE programme, complemented by digitisation of collections and genomic reference libraries to support modern taxonomic and biodiversity research
Establishes the international seabed beyond national jurisdiction as the common heritage of mankind and creates the International Seabed Authority to administer it
Define India's allocated areas and require resource assessment, environmental impact assessment and multidisciplinary oceanographic studies to establish baseline environmental conditions
Only exploration of deep seabed minerals in the international seabed is permitted at present, which is why India's programme is framed as technology development and assessment rather than production
CMLRE's marine biodiversity data feeds India's reporting obligations under both, tying domestic ocean science to international commitments
Polymetallic nodules carry manganese, nickel, copper and cobalt — battery and electronics metals for which India is heavily import-dependent, linking the Deep Ocean Mission to the critical minerals strategy
The international seabed is administered by the ISA on this UNCLOS principle, which is why no State can unilaterally mine it and why exploration contracts carry environmental obligations
The Deep Ocean Mission sits within India's Blue Economy framework alongside fisheries, ocean energy, coastal tourism and marine biotechnology
Environmental Impact Assessment obligations under the ISA contracts, and CMLRE's identification of Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas, are the conservation counterweight to seabed mining ambitions
CMLRE submits data for both, making its EEZ surveys part of India's international environmental reporting rather than purely domestic science
The potential fishery yield estimate for the Indian EEZ, made once every eight years, is the scientific input against which sustainable catch limits and deep-sea fishing policy are set
GS Paper 3 > Science and Technology > Ocean Technology; Economy > Blue Economy and Critical Minerals
General Awareness > Science and Technology > National Missions
General Awareness > Maritime Domain and Strategic Resources
The Deep Ocean Mission, polymetallic nodules and the ISA have appeared in UPSC Prelims multiple times since 2021
Concretions rich in manganese, nickel, copper and cobalt that lie loose on the abyssal seabed; India's allocated exploration site is in the Central Indian Ocean Basin
Mineral deposits formed by precipitation from hydrothermal vents along mid-ocean ridges, rich in copper, zinc, gold and silver; India holds a separate ISA exploration contract for them
The body created under UNCLOS to administer the international seabed beyond national jurisdiction as the common heritage of mankind, and to allocate exploration contracts
The abyssal basin where India's ISA-allocated polymetallic nodule exploration area lies, and where the seabed mining system was tested at 5,270 metres
Marine areas identified for their ecological or biological importance; CMLRE identifies them within India's EEZ as part of its Marine Living Resources programme
The national repository under CMLRE for long-term preservation and documentation of deep-sea biological specimens