PARLIAMENT QUESTION: DEEP OCEAN MISSION

• Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) with six technology verticals spanning deep-sea mining, manned submersibles, climate advisories, biodiversity, ocean energy and an advanced marine biology station.
• Flagship deliverable is Samudrayaan — sending 3 humans to 6,000 m depth in the indigenous submersible MATSYA-6000 built by NIOT, Chennai.
• Strategic relevance: Blue Economy, critical minerals (Cu, Ni, Co, Mn), Indo-Pacific posture, and India's compliance with ISA (International Seabed Authority) seabed allocation in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB).