In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Geological Survey of India (GSI) is in the process of acquiring a research ship which would explore the sea bed beyond India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the Earth's crust underneath.
"We are in the process of acquiring the new research ship at a cost of Rs 600 crore. It would be inducted in the Marine Wing of the GSI. We are expecting to receive the ship from South Korea by this September," GSI Director General A Sundaramoorthy told PTI.
The new ship would expand GSI's operations beyond the country's EEZ and would explore surfaces upto 30 metre under the seabed, he said.
GSI's research vessel 'Samudra Manthan' had already surveyed over 95 per cent of the 2,012 million sq km of the EEZ, he said.
GSI also has a proposal to open a Marine and Coastal Survey Division in Chennai, he said, adding, it would go a long way in identification of mineral resources in the Eastern coast of the country.
Earlier, he inaugurated a national workshop on recent scientific advances in southern granulite terrain at Central Leather Research Institute campus here.
GSI will host the 36th international Geological Congress in New Delhi between Nov 29 and Dec 5, 2020.
