Lok Sabha Question No. 3054 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-19
Subject: PRITHVI Vigyan (PRITHVI) Programme
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Dr. Prashant Yadaorao Padole

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3054

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 19 th  MARCH, 2025

## PRITHVI Vigyan (PRITHVI) programme

## 3054.   DR. PRASHANT YADAORAO PADOLE :

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  amalgamation  of  ongoing  research  projects,  such  as  ACROSS,  OSMART,  PACER,  SAGE,  and  REACHOUT,  under  the  PRITHVI  scheme  and  the expected outcomes from this consolidation;
- (b) the measures being taken to facilitate international collaboration under PRITHVI and the criteria for evaluating proposals from global scientific institutions;
- (c) the progress made under the Rs. 4,077 crore Deep Ocean Mission including findings on metal reserves and zones identified for hydrothermal activities and sulphide mineralisation; and
- (d) the  steps  being  implemented  to  enhance  Country's  capacity  to  address  climate  change impacts through improved understanding of the atmosphere-ocean-pole interactions?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a) The  various  components  of  ongoing  research  projects,  such  as  ACROSS,  O-SMART, PACER, SAGE, and REACHOUT, under the PRITHVI scheme are inter-dependent. The overarching scheme of PRITHVI holistically addresses all the components to improve the understating of the Earth System Sciences and to provide reliable services for the country. These integrated R&D efforts will help in  addressing  the  grand  challenges  of  weather, ocean,  climate,  seismological  and  geological  hazards  and  explore  the  living  and  nonliving resources for their sustainable harnessing.
- (b) MoES  supports  international  collaborative  projects  of  mutual  interest  under  PRITHVI scheme. For the evaluation of collaborative proposals from global scientific institutions, a joint expert committee is set up, which evaluates and recommends the proposal.
- (c) Deep Ocean Mission was launched in 2021 with a total budget outlay of Rs 4,077 crores to be  implemented  by  the  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences.  It is a multi-disciplinary programme  with  activities  encompassing  six  verticals,  namely  a)  Development  of Technologies for Deep Sea Mining and Manned Submersible, Underwater Vehicles and Underwater Robotics for exploring and harnessing ocean resources, b) Development of Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services, c) Technological  innovation  for  exploration and  conservation  of  deep-sea  biodiversity,  d)  Deep  Ocean  Survey  and  Exploration,  e) Energy  and  Freshwater  from  the  Ocean,  and  f)  Advance  Marine  Station  for  Ocean Biology.  Survey  has  been  conducted  at  potential  sites  of  multi-metal  hydrothermal sulphide  mineralisation  along  the  Indian  Ocean  mid-oceanic  ridges  using  autonomous underwater  vehicle  (AUV)  in  March  2024  at  ten  locations,  of  which  two  locations  of active  and  two  locations  of  inactive  vents  showing  sulphide  mineralisation  have  been identified.
- (d) In order to enhance India's capacity to address climate change impacts through improved understanding  of  the  atmosphere-ocean-pole  interactions,  a  number  of  activities  have been carried out, including augmentation of the existing observational networks on land, poles  and  in  oceans,  augmenting  the  High-Performance  Computing  (HPC)  facility, improving  understanding  of  weather  and  climate  processes  and  enhancing  prediction capabilities  by  developing  improved  earth  system  models,  Training  and  Research  at MoES Institutes,  as  well as  Collaborative  Research. Further, the Ministry has recently launched  Mission  Mausam  with  the  goal  of  making  Bharat  a  "Weather-ready  and Climate-smart"  nation  to  mitigate  the  impact  of  climate  change  and  extreme  weather events and strengthen the resilience of communities.

*****