Samudrayaan Mission

• 22 Dec 2022

Why in News?

According to the Ministry of Earth Science, the Samudrayaan Mission is expected to be realised by year 2026.

What is Samudrayaan Mission?

• About:
  • The mission is aimed at sending three personnel to 6000-metre depth in a vehicle called ‘MATSYA 6000’ for the exploration of deep-sea resources like minerals.
    • ‘MATSYA 6000’ vehicle is being designed and developed by National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai under Ministry of Earth Sciences.
    • It has an endurance of 12 hours under normal operation and 96 hours in case of emergency for human safety.
  • It is India’s first unique manned ocean mission and is a part of the Rs 6000-crores Deep Ocean Mission.
• Significance:
  • The manned submersible will allow scientific personnel to observe and understand unexplored deep-sea areas by direct intervention.
  • It will also boost the Central government's vision of 'New India' that highlights the Blue Economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth.
    • India has a unique maritime position, a 7517 km long coastline, which is home to nine coastal states and 1,382 islands.
    • For India, with its three sides surrounded by the oceans and around 30% of the nation's population living in coastal areas and coastal regions play a major economic factor.
    • It supports fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, livelihoods, and blue trade.

What is the Deep Ocean Mission?

• It was approved in June 2021 by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. It aims to explore the deep ocean for resources, develop deep-sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources, and support the Blue Economy Initiatives of the Indian Government.
• The cost of the Mission has been estimated at Rs. 4,077 crores over a five-year period and will be implemented in phases.

What are the Other Related Initiatives?

• India-Norway Task Force on Blue Economy for Sustainable Development: It was inaugurated jointly by both the countries in 2020 to develop and follow up joint initiatives between the two countries.
• Sagarmala Project: The Sagarmala project is the strategic initiative for port-led development through the extensive use of IT enabled services for modernization of ports.
• O-SMART: India has an umbrella scheme by the name of O-SMART which aims at regulated use of oceans, marine resources for sustainable development.
• Integrated Coastal Zone Management: It focuses on conservation of coastal and marine resources, and improving livelihood opportunities for coastal communities etc.
• National Fisheries Policy: India has a National Fisheries policy for promoting 'Blue Growth Initiative' which focuses on sustainable utilization of fisheries wealth from marine and other aquatic resources.

Source: PIB