That’s correct! The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, has been at the forefront of deep-sea mining research, particularly in extracting polymetallic nodules, which contain valuable metals like manganese, nickel, cobalt, and copper.
The crawler-based deep-sea mining system was a crucial step toward India’s deep-ocean exploration efforts. Its successful test on March 14, 2000, near Tuticorin (Thoothukudi), Tamil Nadu, marked a significant milestone. The system was developed in collaboration with the University of Siegen, Germany, and was designed to operate at great depths, collecting mineral-rich nodules from the seabed.
India has been working on deep-sea mining projects under the Deep Ocean Mission (DOM), aiming to harness marine resources, including polymetallic nodules from the Indian Ocean. The Indo-German collaboration played a pivotal role in advancing India’s deep-sea exploration technology.
