{"id":54289,"date":"2025-09-16T20:37:59","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T15:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=54289"},"modified":"2025-09-18T11:52:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T06:22:44","slug":"india-isa-contract-polymetallic-sulphides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/16-09-2025\/india-isa-contract-polymetallic-sulphides","title":{"rendered":"India Signed Contract with International Seabed Authority (ISA) for Polymetallic Sulphides (PMS)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India has secured its <strong>first-ever global exploration contract from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) <\/strong>to explore <strong>polymetallic sulphide nodules <\/strong>in the <strong>Carlsberg Ridge.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Do you know?<\/strong><br>&#8211; India had applied in January 2024 for exploration rights in two Indian Ocean regions\u2014<strong>Carlsberg Ridge<\/strong>, which has now been granted, and <strong>the Afanasy-Nikitin Sea (ANS) mount, still pending approval<\/strong>. The ANS region is also claimed by Sri Lanka.&nbsp;<br>1. India previously obtained ISA permits in the<strong> Central Indian Ocean Basin <\/strong>and for<strong> polymetallic sulphides in the Indian Ocean Ridge<\/strong>, with these contracts valid through 2027 and 2031, respectively.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Carlsberg Ridge<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is a 3,00,000-sq km stretch that lies in the Indian Ocean, specifically in the Arabian Sea and northwest Indian Ocean.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It forms the boundary between the Indian and Arabian tectonic plates, extending from near Rodrigues Island to the Owen fracture zone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance for India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Enhances India\u2019s role in<strong> strategic deep-sea mining<\/strong> and access to critical minerals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strengthens India\u2019s resource security in key industrial metals like copper, zinc, gold, and rare earths.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Supports India\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/28-12-2024\/india-deep-ocean-exploration-mission-2026\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/28-12-2024\/india-deep-ocean-exploration-mission-2026\">Deep Ocean Mission<\/a>\u201d <\/strong>and transition to mineral self-reliance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>The International Seabed Authority (ISA)&nbsp;<\/strong><br>&#8211; It is an autonomous body established under the <strong>1982 UNCLOS and the 1994 Agreement, <\/strong>tasked with regulating mineral-related activities in the deep seabed\u2014<strong>referred to as the Area<\/strong>\u2014for the benefit of humankind. Headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica,<strong> ISA became operational in 1996 and now includes 170 members (169 States + EU).&nbsp;<\/strong><br>&#8211; It ensures environmental protection from seabed mining and oversees resource management in the Area, which spans 54% of the world\u2019s ocean floor, recognized as the common heritage of humankind.<br>1. To explore mineral resources in the high seas\u2014areas beyond any national jurisdiction\u2014countries must obtain permission from the International Seabed Authority (ISA)<br>(a). So far, 19 countries have been granted such exploration rights.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Source :<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/india-gets-licence-to-scour-new-part-of-indian-ocean-for-precious-metals\/article70053704.ece#:~:text=This%20is%20the%20first%20licence,%2C%202025)%2C%20he%20added.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India has secured its first-ever global exploration contract from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to explore polymetallic sulphide nodules in the Carlsberg Ridge.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Carlsberg Ridge<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">It is a 3,00,000-sq km stretch that lies in the Indian Ocean, specifically in the Arabian Sea and northwest Indian Ocean.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">It forms the boundary between the Indian and Arabian tectonic plates, extending from near Rodrigues Island to the Owen fracture zone.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/16-09-2025\/india-isa-contract-polymetallic-sulphides\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54289"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54325,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54289\/revisions\/54325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}