Lok Sabha Question No. 1057 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-26
Subject: Samudrayan Project
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Ramesh Chander Kaushik

- (a) Yes Sir.
- (b) Deep  Ocean  Mission  has  been  launched  w.e.f.  07.09.2021,  as  a  Central  Sector Scheme  of  Ministry of Earth Sciences with the approval of the Cabinet. Samudrayaan is a project under the Deep Ocean Mission. Under the Samudrayaan project  of  Deep  Ocean  Mission,  MATSYA  6000  mannedsubmersible  design  has been completed so far.  Under the Mission, Deep water Autonomous Underwater Vehicle  (AUV)  namely  Ocean  Mineral  Explorer  (OMe  6000)  has  been deployed for  exploration.Deep  sea  mineral  exploration  was  performed  using  OMe  6000 AUV  during  December2022  using  research  ship  Sagar  Nidhi  at  Polymetallic Manganese  Nodule  (PMN)  site  ata  depth  of  5271  m  in  the  allocated  area  of International Seabed Authority at CentralIndian Ocean Basin (CIOB). About 14 sq km area has been surveyed with all scientificpayloads to generate high resolution seabed features to understand and validate theresource potential at exploration site. About  1  km  x  0.5  km  area  has  been  mapped  using  highresolution  cameras  for quantitative  polymetallic manganese nodule  resource abundance,  distribution  and deep-sea biodiversity.
- (c) Deep Ocean Mission was approved by the Cabinet with the overall estimated cost of  Rs.4077  Crores  for  two  phases  of  the  Mission  period  during  2021-2026.  The allocated budget so far is Rs.1400 crore, out of which Rs.405.92 crores has already been disbursed and an expenditure of Rs.225.35 crores have been incurred.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1057 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 26 TH JULY, 2023

## SAMUDRAYAN PROJECT

## †1057.     SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  the  data  of  the  exploration  conducted  in  deep  sea since the introduction of Samudrayan Project;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the  details  of  the  budget  allocated,  disbursed  and  incurred  thereon  since  the introduction of this Project;
- (d) whether the Government is aware of the findings of such explorations; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER THE MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES (SHRI KIRAN RIJIJU)

- (d) Yes Sir.
- (e) The details about the findings of AUV exploration survey is as follows:
- (i) High resolution sea floor mapping was conducted at Central Indian Ocean up  toa  depth  of  5271  m  with  all  payloads  during  15thand  16thDecember, 2022.Thevehicle  was  operated  in  pre-defined  2km  X  2km  area  with  all scientific payloadsand acquired data sets for more than 26 hours from 30 m altitude  at  5271  mdepth  and  successfully  launched  and  recovered  in  the high seas safely.
- (ii) For  high  resolution  seabed  photography,  1km  x  0.5km  was  chosen  and 130photographic lines were completed at 4m spacing by operating the AUV for  30hours at 5m altitude at 5271 m depth during 17 th & 18 th December, 2022.  Datasets  were  acquired  in  collaboration  with  National  Institute  of Ocean Technology, Chennai, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa, National Institute of Oceanography, Mumbai, CSIR, Delhi and Kongsberg, Norway.
- (iii) Acquired high resolution details had brought outmanganese nodule distributions and biodiversity at the PMN site.
- (iv) Details obtained from AUV are useful to facilitate the resource estimation to  target  the  regionsof  high  abundance with flat  surface and  Environment Impact Assessment  for  thedeployment  of  deep  sea  mining  machine  with collector device at PMN site in CIOB.

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