The Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) is India’s ambitious quest to explore and harness the depths of the ocean. As part of this initiative, India will, for the first time, embark on a journey to a depth of 6,000 metres in the ocean using an indigenously developed submersible with a three-member crew. The mission will require technologies to access and transport tonnes of valuable minerals from the ocean-bed in an environmentally safe manner. The following interview, with M. Ravichandran, Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, breaks down the mission and its salient features and challenges. It was conducted by Bhavya Khanna, a scientist in the Ministry.
Please tell us about the DOM and how MoES contributes to this programme.
DOM is India’s ambitious programme, chiefly implemented by the MoES. DOM was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2021 at a cost of nearly Rs 4,077 crore over a five-year period in a phased manner. The mission has six pillars:
