Blue economy has potential to emerge as major driver of India’s growth: Jitendra Singh

Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Monday said the blue economy has the potential to emerge as a major driver of the country’s future growth, contributing to energy security, food needs, and strategic strength.

The minister said that while oceans have been central to India’s civilisational understanding, systematic efforts to harness their economic and scientific potential have gained momentum only in recent years.

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He underlined that the government’s focus on the blue economy is clearly reflected in the Prime Minister’s Independence Day addresses in 2023 and 2024, where it was identified as a national priority.

Delivering the keynote address at the session titled “Blue Economy, Oceans, Poles, Earth, and Ecology – Sagarika, the Tale of Earth Sciences” during the India International Science Festival, the minister pointed out that the country has a coastline of over 11,000 km and an exclusive economic zone of more than 2.37 million square kilometres.

“Nearly 60 per cent of our landmass-equivalent lies in the ocean, yet its contribution to value creation has remained limited so far,” he said, adding that achieving the goal of a developed India by 2047 would require looking beyond land-based resources.

He said that the Deep Ocean Mission will be pivotal in institutionalising India’s ocean-related research and expanding the nation’s blue economy.

Emphasising the vast potential of marine resources, he noted that the oceans hold significant reserves of minerals, metals, biodiversity, and fisheries, all of which can contribute meaningfully to India’s clean energy transition.

The minister highlighted a range of renewable energy prospects linked to the oceans, including offshore wind, ocean-based solar power, tidal and wave energy, thermal energy from seawater temperature variations, and energy derived from saline gradients, stating that these technologies could reshape the country’s energy landscape.

At the same time, he cautioned against rising challenges. Climate-driven threats such as coastal erosion, marine heat waves, and intensifying cyclones, along with non-climatic issues like marine litter and pollution, demand urgent attention.

He stressed that effective resource mapping, adoption of advanced technologies, and greater private-sector participation will be crucial in tackling these concerns.

Singh also underscored the strategic significance of the blue economy, asserting that sustainable management of ocean resources could enhance India’s geopolitical influence amid a shifting global order.

Sectors such as marine transport, deep-sea mining, biotechnology, and novel pharmaceutical discoveries from ocean biodiversity, he said, offer promising new economic avenues.