Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) to be launch by Ministry of Earth Sciences

The Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) has finally got the green signal from the Government of India (GoI). It is five-year, Rs 8000-crore plan to explore the deepest recesses of the ocean & will be launched by the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences. The mission proposes to explore the deep ocean similar to the space exploration started by ISRO about 35 years ago. A major thrust of the mission will be looking for metals and minerals. India has been allotted a site of 75,000 sq. km. in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) by the UN International Sea Bed Authority for exploitation of Poly-Metallic Nodules (PMN). These are rocks scattered on the seabed containing iron, manganese, nickel and cobalt. It has been estimated that 380 million metric tonnes of PMN are available at the bottom of the seas in the Central Indian Ocean (CIO).