India achieves 5,000-metre deep dive milestone in Indo-French ocean mission

New Delhi, Aug 14 (IANS) The Ministry of Earth Sciences on Thursday announced the successful 5,000-metre deep dive of Indian aquanauts aboard the French submersible Nautile in the Atlantic Ocean.

The achievement marks a major step towards India’s ambitious MATSYA 6000 project -- the nation’s first indigenously developed deep-sea human submersible under the Samudrayan Project, said Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh.

The 'MATSYA 6000' is designed to reach depths of up to 6,000 metres for deep-ocean exploration, resource assessment, and biodiversity studies.

The mission was part of Indo-French collaboration under the Deep Ocean Mission, aimed at advancing scientific research and technology in extreme marine environments.

“This successful dive demonstrates India’s growing capabilities in ocean science and technology, and strengthens our global partnerships in marine research,” the minister added.

The mission was executed with the support of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, and is expected to pave the way for future deep-sea expeditions, including the first manned descent into the Indian Ocean at extreme depths.

Last month, the minister said that the union government has consistently increased the budget allocation for science and research, with the highest allocation made in FY2025-26 since the last five years.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Singh shared that “more than Rs 65,307 crore budget has been allocated to six scientific agencies for research in FY 2025-26".

In comparison, Rs 41,581.96 crore was allocated for science and research in 2024-25, and Rs 39,843 crore in 2023-24.

In 2022-23, the government allocated Rs 37,828 crore and in 2021-22, Rs 37,823 crore.

The six major scientific agencies/departments are the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research/ Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR/CSIR), the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Department of Space (DOS), the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

--IANS

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