Government notifies Offshore Areas Operating Right Rules, 2024 | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Government notifies Offshore Areas Operating Right Rules, 2024

Posted 22 Oct 2024

2 min read

Rules notified under Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002 aim at regulating exploration and production of minerals in specified offshore regions.

  • This is significant in the backdrop of the planned first-ever offshore mineral auction of 10 blocks. These blocks will include sand, lime mud, and polymetallic nodules.

Key Highlights of Rules

  • Applicability: All minerals in offshore areas, except Mineral oils and hydrocarbons and specified Atomic minerals 
  • Lease Surrender: Provides for surrender of lease after 10 years in case of uneconomic production operations.
  • Provide for Priority access to government and government-owned companies, in case of operating rights for reserved offshore zones.

Offshore mining and its significance:

  • Also called deep sea mining, Offshore mining is process of retrieving mineral deposits from deep seabed i.e. ocean below 200m.
    • It will cater to increasing demand for metals in context of depleting terrestrial deposits and reduce dependence on mineral imports.

Issues/Challenges in offshore Mining:

  • Potential environmental damage: Can endanger biodiversity by habitat destruction, underwater noise, and pollution.
  • Impact on fishing communities: May harm fish populations, impacting livelihood of fishing communities.
  • Technology: Lack of adequate R&D and technological development for deep-sea mining.

Initiatives taken for Offshore Mining:

  • Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002: For development and regulation of mineral resources 
  • Deep Ocean Mission: Under Ministry of Earth Sciences for deep sea mineral exploration. E.g. Samudrayaan Mission and MATSYA 6000
  • International Seabed Authority (ISA): Allotted 10,000 sq. km. of area to India in 2016 for exclusive exploration of Poly-Metallic Nodules in Indian Ocean.
  • Tags :
  • Offshore Mining
  • polymetallic nodules
  • Deep Ocean Mission
  • Samudrayaan Mission
  • MATSYA 6000
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