India Weighs Deep-Sea Mineral Exploitation Against Marine Ecology

India holds three International Seabed Authority exploration contracts covering roughly 95,000 square kilometres in the international seabed area.

The country's deep-sea exploration has identified 366 million tonnes of polymetallic nodules and discovered around 23 marine species new to science.

Experts argue that strategic mineral necessity must be demonstrated before extraction begins, urging a high ecological threshold to protect fragile deep-sea ecosystems.