With over 2 million sq. km Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) supplemented with the continental shelf extending beyond the EEZ, the survey and exploration remains an important activity being proposed to be extended in the XII Plan. The continental shelf programme would also need to be continued till our claims in the United Nations are accepted. The quest for resources continues to interest mankind and ocean minerals are no longer exception. Gas hydrates with their occurrence being ascertained with the help of Bottom Simulating Reflectors (BSR) need to be investigated in more details considering their potential. The programme on polymetallic nodules has matured from survey and exploration to technology development, while new minerals and associated marine ecosystems surrounding the hydrothermal vents and cobalt crusted seamounts have caught the attention of scientists.
