Blue Economy of India and Technology Initiatives - I

Oceans covering 72% of the planet, commands the seventh position among the top ten economies. With the land based resources depleting fast, harvesting of the world's ocean resources are in the uptrend. Increased and sustained utilization of the blue economic resources has the potential to shift the economy of the society from scarcity to abundance. India, with over 7600km long coastline and with an exclusive economic zone of 2.3 million km² and seeking extension for additional 560km have initiated policies to catalyse the growth of the Indian economy through blue economy. India spearheads the blue economic growth and security of all countries in the Indian Ocean region. The work done under this area is quite exhaustive and many developments are in the pipe line. The first part of the paper presented now discusses the living and non-living blue economic resources in India including the deep ocean minerals, hydrocarbons, renewable energy, desalination based on ocean thermal gradient and bio-prospecting; and the technology initiatives to harness the vast blue resources. It is proposed to bring additional areas on the same topic of Blue Economy during the next Oceans conference.