NEW DELHI: After successfully venturing into space exploration, India will launch its ambitious ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ by October to enter hitherto untapped 75,000 sq km of area in international waters to tap vast marine resources.Underwater robotics and ‘manned’ submersibles are key components of the Mission which will help India harness various living and non-living (water, mineral and energy) resources from the seabed and deep water.“It’s one of the transformative ideas of the government’s 100-day programmes. I am confident that we would be able to launch the ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ by October,” said M Rajeevan, secretary of ministry of earth sciences (MoES) which is the nodal ministry to implement the Mission.Announcing the move on the occasion of the MoES foundation day on Saturday, Rajeevan said the ministry of finance has given its in principle approval and his ministry would circulate the details of finances (EFC) next week.He said, “The government is focussing on blue economy in terms of sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth. The Mission will help in leveraging the blue economy for the country’s overall economic growth.”Though Rajeevan did not speak about the cost, officials in the ministry hinted that the Mission would be a long-term exploration exercise and its staggering cost may run up to Rs 8,000 crore-Rs 10,000 crore over the next five years. The tasks that will be undertaken over this period include deep-sea mining, survey, energy exploration and the offshore-based desalination.Rajeevan said that the Mission would be an integrated programme where several scientific departments of the government such as ISRO , DBT, DST, DRDO and ICAR will work together for sustainable harnessing of ocean resources.Referring to ongoing works ahead of the launch of the Mission, an official said that a remotely operable submersible (ROSUB 6000) - capable of operating at depths of 6,000 metres - has already been developed and tested successfully up to 5,289 metres depth.Besides, a remotely operable in-situ soil testing equipment has also been developed for getting detailed geo-technical properties of the mining area at Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB). India has exclusive rights over 75,000 sq km of international waters, allocated by UN’s International Seabed Authority , for exploration of polymetallic nodules.These technological developments were funded under an umbrella scheme of the government - called Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART) - which was approved last year at an estimated cost of Rs 1,623 crore till 2019-20.The O-SMART has, however, other components including early warning systems for oceanic disasters, setting up marine coastal observatories for monitoring marine pollution and acquisition of coastal research vessels.