India planning deep-water manned missions of up to 6,000 metres: Jitendra Singh

India has developed a submersible vehicle that can carry out manned underwater missions up to 500 metres down the oceans and is set to carry out the first such mission sometime this year, minister of science and technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, said on Thursday.

The minister said the subsequent mission using the Human Underwater Submersible (Deep-Sea Manned Vehicle) will take researchers to depths of up to 6,000 metres, or 6 km, next year.

The technology for deep-water missions have been developed entirely with indigenous know-how as in the case of India’s space missions, he said.

Advances in scientific capabilities will help bolster India’s blue economy, Dr Jitendra Singh said while addressing the second steering committee meeting of the `Deep Ocean Mission’.

He said this initiative has great significance as it will position India among a select group of six nations with the technology for carrying out such deep-sea missions.

The Deep Ocean Mission, a flagship programme launched under the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has the potential to unlock vast resources, including critical minerals, rare metals, as also other marine resources, all of which are crucial for the country’s sustainable economic growth, the minister pointed out.