(a) whether Indian Ocean has vast resources of minerals, oil, natural gases etc;
(b) if so, whether any study has been conducted by the Government in this regard;
(c) if so, the details in this regard; and
(d) the steps taken by the Government to harness these resources?
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE ) OF THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTER OF STATE ( INDEPENDENT CHARGE ) OF THE DEPARTMENT OF OCEAN DEVELOPMENT( SHRI KAPIL SIBAL )
(a) Yes, Sir,
(b) and (c) Yes Sir, Studies have been conducted by the Geological Survey of India (Ministry of Mines) for offshore Minerals and by Directorate General of Hydrocarbone (Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas) for Hydrocarbon resources in Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea regions of the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In the deep oceans, the Department of Ocean Development has established resource potential only in respect of Polymetallic Nodules.
As per the study, the established resource of 380 million tones of polymetallic nodules contain 4.290 million tones of copper, 4.70 million tones of nickel and 0.0550 million tones of cobalt in the retained area.
(d) Department of Ocean Development is pursuing various developmental activities and technology development pertaining to mining and extractive metallurgy in phases to harness the resources from nodules.