Mineral deposits in Indian Ocean can make country self-sufficient

Indian Ocean contains vast quantities of critical minerals needed for the global energy transition, particularly copper, nickel, cobalt and manganese. Nickel and cobalt are critical ingredients in the lithium-ion batteries used in most electric vehicles.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Addressing the ‘International Conference on Seabed Mining’ at Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Michael W Lodge, Secretary-General, International Seabed Authority (ISA) said, “India was one of the very first pioneer investors in deep sea mining, starting from the 1980s. In recent years, there has been enormous progress. Under the Deep Ocean Mission, India’s progress was phenomenal. India has the potential to become a global leader in deep sea mineral exploration and exploitation”.

With Deep Ocean Mission of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), India can become self-sufficient in various minerals as well as become a global leader in deep sea mining. Besides crude oil and gas, variious minerals that can be mined from the Indian Ocean seabed include polymetallic nodules and sulphides which are hard minerals. They contain vast quantities of critical minerals needed for the global energy transition, particularly copper, nickel, cobalt and manganese. Nickel and cobalt are critical ingredients in the lithium-ion batteries used in most electric vehicles.  Electric Vehicles (EV) are zero-emission automobiles.

Government of India had signed a 15-year contract with International Seabed Authority (ISA) for exploration of polymetallic nodules from Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) in 2002. The MoES has undertaken exploration and other developmental activities related to polymetallic sulphides under a 15 years contract signed in 2016 with International Seabed Authority (ISA) for exploration of polymetallic sulphides in the allotted area of 10,000 sq km along Central Indian Ridge (CIR) & Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) region of the Indian Ocean.

ISA is an intergovernmental body of 167 member states and the European Union, with headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica.