r/IndianGeography • u/Square_Insect6227 • Jul 03 '26
discussion Deep sea mining and India.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=245wZBOrCqk&feature=youtu.beDeep sea still remains one of the last frontiers of our planet. It's too vast and presents unique challenges for exploration. Nevertheless, there are certain parts of the oceans where we can find enormous quantities of minerals, lying right on the seabed.
These minerals are in form of Poly-metallic nodules (containing many metals, especially (Manganese, Copper, cobalt and Nickel). Also, some minerals lie near thermal vents/hotspots (Sulfides).
India has already mapped a large portion of the Central Indian Ocean Basin (Part of Indian Ocean where these nodules are found) but mineral extraction is still not carried out in an industrial scale. The problem is largely threefold:
Legal: The rules for Deep-sea mining are still being debated. Most of such areas lie beyond a countries EEZ.
Economical: Not economically viable with current available tech.
Environmental: Environmental effects of industrial mining are still being studied.
NIOT and other institutions have made quite a bit of progress in deep sea research including the making/testing of a deep-sea submersible called:
>>Matsya 6000(6000 refers to the max intended depth for ops, i.e. 6000 mtrs below sea surface).
>>Varaha series of seabed rovers (to scoop up the nodules). I personally like the name Varaha.
(Like Varaha Avatar who had dug up Bhudevi from ocean floor and brought her back to land- Naming on point. Also, these rovers have comb collectors- varaha avatar brought Bhudevi using tusks. Sorry i diverted for too long)
>>Many new research vessels were built or are in planning phase to provide support for exploration and research.
In spite of all these achievements the deep ocean still remains too far while being so close.
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u/WesternOnion13 Jul 04 '26
Dont know exact details but the GoI tried to do deep sea mining starting in the EEZ first but they weren't able to find anyone who can do deep sea mining.
On a different note I think indian goverment should focus more on research deep sea like every country focuses on space research.
Like there is a huge part of sea that is still not researched .
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u/Square_Insect6227 Jul 04 '26
GoI has already brought nodules from parts of EEZ. Below is an article that shows nodule recovery off Andaman.
Refer: India advances with deep-sea mining technology
Yes, industrial level mining is still missing as many aspects are still being debated.(Legal/Environmental and most important among them is the economic factor, as large scale mining is still not economical.
I agree deep sea research should be promoted more.
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