Deep Ocean Mission Progress Report
The Deep Ocean Mission (DOM), launched by the Government of India in 2021 as a flagship initiative, has achieved significant milestones across its six thematic verticals aimed at exploring and harnessing ocean resources for India's Blue Economy. The mission encompasses deep-sea mining technologies, ocean climate change services, biodiversity conservation, deep-ocean exploration, ocean energy, and establishment of advanced marine research facilities.
Under Vertical 1 (Deep-sea mining and submersible technologies), the design and system engineering for India's human submersible MATSYA-6000 are complete, with subsystems realized and successful crewed/uncrewed wet harbor trials conducted at 8m depth from January 22 to February 14, 2025, at Kattupalli near Chennai. Scientists from the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) gained pilot experience with the French submersible NAUTILE in August 2025. The self-propelled deep-sea nodule collector design is complete, with a successful demonstration collecting over 100 kg of cobalt-rich polymetallic nodules from 1173m depth in the Andaman Sea in 2024.
Vertical 2 (Ocean climate change advisory services) has developed a suite of ocean models for downscaling sea level, wave, storm surge, and biogeochemical projections of the Indian Ocean, including prediction of 100-year extreme sea levels along Indian coasts with associated coastal vulnerability maps, Genesis Potential Index for Bay of Bengal cyclones, and wave models for Indian Ocean climate analysis. The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) completed 11 glider missions in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, deploying 60 directional Wave Spectra Barometric Drifters and 92 physical/biogeochemical Argo floats in the Indian Ocean.
Vertical 3 (Deep-sea biodiversity exploration and conservation) conducted detailed profiling and characterization studies including genomic analysis and screening for industrially useful molecules. Researchers isolated 2,038 deep-sea microbes from Indian EEZ water and sediment samples, discovering rare microbes previously unreported from the Indian Ocean. A Marine Microbial Repository is being established at Chittedu, Andhra Pradesh. The Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) surveyed 31 seamounts in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, documenting 201 deep-sea species including 43 potentially new to science.
Vertical 4 (Deep ocean survey and exploration) conducted expeditions in Central and Southwest Indian Ridges, discovering four hydrothermal vent fields and two inactive vents (potential mineralized zones), including India's first imaging of an active vent. A contract has been awarded to GRSE, Kolkata (a PSU under Ministry of Defence) for indigenous construction of a new multipurpose, all-weather ocean research vessel, with design, model tests, and keel laying completed.
Vertical 5 (Energy and freshwater from ocean) has prepared a detailed project report for a high-capacity offshore Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)-powered desalination plant. Vertical 6 (Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology) has procured land in Nemmeli, Chennai, and has 145 collaborative research projects ongoing with nearly 70 national institutions including universities, colleges, and laboratories.
For deep-sea resource exploration, the draft Mining Code of the International Seabed Authority incorporates stringent environmental safeguards including precautionary approach, environmental baseline studies, impact assessments, management programs, and adaptive measures. India participates in the ISA's consultative approach, though the Mining Code has yet to be ratified.