What is Samudrayaan Mission?
Samudra stands for 'sea' in English. The mega is mission is related to the ocean/sea. It is aimed to develop "a self-propelled manned submersible to carry three human beings to a water depth of 6,000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools for deep ocean exploration.
Developed indigenously, MATSYA 6000 is a manned submersible vehicle. It will facilitate the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) in conducting deep ocean exploration. It has an endurance of 12 hours of operational period and 96 hours in case of emergency, according to the ANI news agency.
The manned submersible will allow scientific personnel to observe and understand unexplored deep-sea areas by direct intervention.
The Indian Government launched the Samudrayaan mission in October 2021.
While launching the sea exploration initiative, Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh mentioned, "This niche technology shall facilitate Ministry of Earth Sciences, in carrying out deep ocean exploration of the non-living resources such as polymetallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydro-thermal sulfides, and cobalt crusts, located at a depth between 1000 and 5500 meters."
Why is it relevant for India?
India has a unique maritime position, a 7517 km long coastline, which is home to nine coastal states and 1,382 islands. The mission aims to boost the Central government's vision of 'New India' that highlights the Blue Economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth.
"For India, with its three sides surrounded by the oceans and around 30% of the nation's population living in coastal areas and coastal regions play a major economic factor. It supports fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, livelihoods, and blue trade," Union Minister Singh had said.
Device for Samudrayaan misison:
National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), has developed a 6000 m depth-rated Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and various other underwater instruments. The preliminary design of the manned submersible 'MATSYA 6000' is completed. Manned submersible provides a feel of direct physical presence for researchers and has better intervention capability. With the advancing subsea technologies.
Some of the critical subsystems of the manned submersibles are the development of the Ti Alloy Personnel Sphere, Human support and safety system in enclosed space, low-density buoyancy modules, and Ballast and Trim System.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), IITM, and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will actively participate in this mission.
Cost of the Samudrayaan Mission:
The Centre had approved the Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) at a total budget of ₹4,077 crore for five years. The estimated cost for the first phase for the 3 years (2021-2024) would be ₹2,823.4 crore.
