A coastline 7,517 kilometers long, 1,382 islands, India has gold under its feet, or rather an exceptional potential deposit of minerals in its abyss, which the government is determined to exploit, despite the risks. inherent ecological. In June 2021, New Delhi launched a mission dubbed Deep Ocean, with a budget of more than 460 million euros over five years, for the development of deep-sea mining technologies, the exploration of resources, the study of marine biodiversity, the purchase of a research vessel for ocean exploration, ocean climate change research.
The subcontinent joined the square of countries authorized to explore the abyss in 2016, obtaining the 25e permit granted by the United Nations International Seabed Authority. It has been allocated a 75,000 square kilometer site in the central Indian Ocean basin, corresponding to its expanded exclusive economic zone. India will be able to explore its marine resources such as sulphides and polymetallic nodules, gas hydrates, hydrothermal vents.
The government does not hide its intentions. “Mineral exploration studies will pave the way for commercial exploitation in the near future, once the commercial exploitation code is developed by the International Seabed Authority. This component will contribute to the priority area of the “blue economy”, namely the exploration and exploitation of deep seabed minerals and energy”, he said in a statement at the launch of the mission.
Wonderful
The Ministry of Earth Sciences ensures that by using only 10% of the reserve of these polymetallic nodules available in the region, India will be able to meet all its future needs to produce batteries. The figures put forward by the government seem staggering: according to its preliminary estimates, the country would have, within this perimeter, 380 million tonnes of polymetallic nodules, including copper, nickel, cobalt and manganese, for a value of around $110 billion.
To explore these deep seas, the Deep Ocean mission must develop a manned and self-propelled submersible capable of carrying at least three crew members and scientific equipment to a depth of 6,000 meters in the Indian Ocean. It will take four hours to descend and as much to return to the surface.
You have 45.97% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.