A vision document on Ocean Development 2015, has been unveiled with an ambitious agenda. Salient features are: socio-economic benefits to the coastal population on a sustainable basis; understanding the influence of the ocean on our monsoon; enhancing our weather forecasting capacity; developing reliable and environmentally safe deep sea technology to harness ocean resources and forging partnership with Indian Ocean neighbours, while safeguarding our interests.
Drugs from Sea
The National Project on Drugs from Sea has made considerable progress with promising leads relating to development of Anti-Diabetic, Anti-Diahorreal, Anti-Cholestrol, Larvicidal and Anti-Anxiety drugs. Toxicity studies on monkeys are underway.
Ocean Thermal Energy
World’s first 1-MW floating ocean thermal energy conversion plant is getting ready at Tuticorin, off the coast of Tamil Nadu. This demonstration project will help in perfecting such a plant on a bigger scale to tap India’s vast potential in ocean thermal energy.
Mobile Sea-Bed Mining
World’s first mobile sea-bed mining system has been developed and perfected. This will help in extracting polymetallic nodules from the sea-bed, which are rich in high value metals like cobalt, Nickel, Copper and Manganese.
Other Major Activities
A massive one-time exercise was taken up to have India’s seabed boundary established under the delimitation of the continental shelf. Under it, India can stake claim to lakhs of square miles of seabed area which can be used for oil exploration, seabed mining and fishing.