Why it is in the news
The Ministry of Mines has notified two more offshore mineral blocks near Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman Sea, covering a combined 1,632 sq km, for the grant of composite licences for polymetallic nodules and crusts, The Indian Express reported on 27 September 2026. The blocks are West Sewell Ridge-01 (1,000 sq km, off Great Nicobar) and Sewell Rise-01 (632 sq km, in the southern part of the Sewell Rise).
The exam angle
Issue: Should India open the seabed of its EEZ to mineral exploration for critical-mineral security before the science of deep-sea ecosystems and the global rules on seabed mining have caught up?