UPSC Prelims 2026 Q50: Deep Ocean Mission, Matsya-6000 — Explained

Which of the following statements with regard to India's Deep Ocean Mission is/are correct?

1. It was launched by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India.

2. Matsya-6000 has been designed to carry 3 people for deep sea exploration.

3. Samudrayaan is a project under this mission.

1 only
2 and 3 only
1 and 2 only
1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Statement-wise explanation

1: incorrect — The Deep Ocean Mission belongs to the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), not the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. The Cabinet approved the MoES proposal on 16 June 2021, and MoES is the nodal ministry running the mission. It is a Central Sector Scheme with an outlay of Rs 4,077 crore for five years (2021–26).
2: correct — MATSYA-6000 is a self-propelled crewed submersible designed to carry three people to 6,000 metres below the sea surface. The crew sits in a titanium-alloy sphere 2.1 metres in diameter, kept at 1 atmosphere of pressure inside. NIOT Chennai (under MoES) is building it with ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
3: correct — Samudrayaan is the crewed deep-sea project under the Deep Ocean Mission's first vertical: deep-sea mining and crewed submersible technology. Its aim is to send three people to 6,000 m depth in MATSYA-6000. The government has said India's first crewed dive to that depth is expected by the end of 2026.

How to eliminate

The quickest route is the ministry. If you know the Deep Ocean Mission is a Ministry of Earth Sciences scheme, statement 1 is false. That rules out every option containing 1 (1 only; 1 and 2 only; 1, 2 and 3), and only '2 and 3 only' is left. You don't need to know the crew size at all. If you weren't sure about the ministry, use topic association: ocean science bodies such as NIOT, INCOIS and NCPOR all sit under MoES. The Ports ministry deals with ports, shipping and the Sagarmala programme. Statement 3 is also near-certain from the news, because Samudrayaan has always been reported as India's crewed deep-ocean mission. The fact to remember is 'DOM = MoES, 2021, Rs 4,077 crore'.

Know more

Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) is India's mission to explore the deep ocean for resources and to build deep-sea technology for the Blue Economy. The Cabinet approved it on 16 June 2021. It was launched in September 2021 as a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, with Rs 4,077 crore for 2021–26. Phase I (2021–24) cost Rs 2,823.4 crore.

The six verticals

#	Vertical	Key element
1	Deep-sea mining and crewed submersible technology	Samudrayaan / MATSYA-6000; seabed mining system for polymetallic nodules
2	Ocean climate change advisory services	Projections of sea level, cyclones and ocean state
3	Deep-sea biodiversity exploration and conservation	Survey of deep-sea flora, fauna and microbes
4	Deep ocean survey and exploration	Finding multi-metal hydrothermal sulphide sites along Indian Ocean ridges
5	Energy and freshwater from the ocean	Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)–powered desalination plant
6	Advanced Marine Station for ocean biology	Capacity building in marine biology and blue biotechnology

MATSYA-6000 at a glance

4th-generation crewed submersible. It holds 3 aquanauts and is designed to reach 6,000 m.
The crew sphere is titanium alloy, 2.1 m in diameter, with 1 atm pressure inside.
Built by NIOT, Chennai, with VSSC (ISRO).
Wet (harbour) trials were held at L&T Kattupalli near Chennai in January–February 2025.

Why it matters: The International Seabed Authority has allotted India an area in the Central Indian Ocean Basin to explore polymetallic nodules. These are rich in manganese, nickel, copper and cobalt, which are critical minerals for batteries and clean energy. Only a few countries (the USA, Russia, France, Japan and China) have crewed vehicles rated to about 6,000 m. Samudrayaan would add India to that group.

In the news

MATSYA-6000 finished its wet trials near Chennai in early 2025, and the government has said India's first crewed dive to 6,000 m is planned by the end of 2026. Parliamentary replies in early 2026 again listed the mission's six verticals and the submersible's three-person design. The first five-year phase (2021–26) also ends in 2026, which keeps the mission in the news.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

Deep Ocean Mission: Statements 1 and 3 depend on knowing which ministry runs the Deep Ocean Mission and which projects, like Samudrayaan, sit under it.
Polymetallic nodules: The mission's first vertical pairs deep-sea mining of polymetallic nodules with crewed submersibles, which is the setting for Samudrayaan and MATSYA-6000.
Blue economy: The Deep Ocean Mission supports India's blue economy, which helps explain why the Ministry of Earth Sciences leads ocean exploration like MATSYA-6000's 6,000-metre dives.