Discuss the strategic and economic significance of the Deep Ocean Mission for India's Blue Economy. Examine the technological milestones achieved so far.

Launched on 7 September 2021 as a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Earth Sciences with an outlay of Rs 4,077 crore for 2021-26, the Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) is India's mission-mode push to convert an unexplored ocean floor into a Blue Economy asset through six verticals [3][2]. Its significance is simultaneously strategic, economic and technological.

Strategic significance

• Seabed sovereignty: India's polymetallic nodule site in the Central Indian Ocean Basin is held under an International Seabed Authority (ISA) contract under UNCLOS; sustained exploration is the condition for retaining these rights [2].
• Critical-mineral security: cobalt, nickel and manganese from nodules cut import dependence in battery and defence supply chains [1].
• Ocean diplomacy: capacity-building with France — Indian pilots trained on the submersible NAUTILE (2025) — deepens scientific partnerships in the Indo-Pacific [1].

Economic significance

• Directly serves the Blue Economy pillar of Viksit Bharat, monetising non-living resources, deep-sea bioprospecting and marine biotechnology [1].
• Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)-based offshore desalination promises clean energy and freshwater for island and coastal populations [4].
• Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services protect coastal livelihoods, ports and fisheries from extreme-sea-level risk [1].

Technological milestones

• MATSYA-6000, an indigenous human-occupied vehicle for three aquanauts to 6,000 m, built jointly by NIOT and ISRO's VSSC, completed crewed and uncrewed wet harbour trials in January-February 2025 [1][5].
• The OMe 6000 autonomous underwater vehicle surveyed at 5,271 m depth in the CIOB (2022), and over 100 kg of cobalt-rich nodules were collected from 1,173 m in the Andaman Sea [2][1].
• Scientific yield: 31 seamounts surveyed, 201 deep-sea species documented, and hydrothermal vent fields discovered on Indian Ridges [1].

DOM thus links resource security, climate resilience and indigenous engineering into one platform. Going forward, timely completion of the Samudrayaan manned dive, expected by end-2026, alongside ISA-compliant environmental safeguards, will determine whether India's Blue Economy grows sustainably [4]. Handled well, the deep ocean becomes India's next frontier of Atmanirbharta — advancing SDG-14 rather than trading it away.