Plumbing the depths to scale the heights

With pressure on finite resources increasing, oceans have become the new frontier for exploration. In 2021, India launched the Deep Ocean Mission, or Samudrayaan, to undertake deep-sea exploration to understand and use living (biodiversity) and non-living (minerals) resources. New Delhi also plans to develop ocean climate-change advisory services – important, because marine heatwaves are a reality – conservation methods for sustainable utilisation of marine bio-resources, offshore-based desalination techniques and RE generation. Setting up an underwater biodiversity research lab in the Indian Ocean to study seabed flora and fauna, and explore their potential for food consumption, is also being considered.

But biodiversity exploration is only one part of the story. India is also trying to reach huge deposits of mineral resources – cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese – that lie thousands of feet below the ocean surface. These can be used to produce RE, EVs and batteries, all essential for tackling climate change. India has two deep-sea exploration licences in the Indian Ocean and has applied for two more from the International Seabed Authority (ISA). GoI has initiated an ₹8,000 cr plan to explore the ocean’s depths.

These steps are not solely driven by the need for resources but also by geopolitical competition. China has four licences and is aggressively conducting similar explorations. ISA has issued 31 exploration licences, 30 of which are now active. With India’s exclusive economic zone spreading over 2.2 mn sq km, it makes ample sense to explore. However, it must be done cautiously as the ocean ecosystem is fragile, and little is known about it. It also has implications for communities dependent on the sea for livelihood.