SME Times News Bureau | 25 Mar, 2019
Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for
fully tapping the enormous potential of the Blue Economy for the country to
achieve higher economic growth.
Observing that the objective of the Blue Economy
is to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and employment
opportunities through maritime economic activities, the Vice President wanted
appropriate programs to be initiated for sustainable harnessing of ocean
resources.
Interacting with the Scientists of National
Institute of Oceanography (NIO), in Dona Paula, Goa today, Shri Naidu pointed
out that India was meeting most of its oil and gas requirements through imports
and urged the scientists to step up their research in areas such as ocean
energy and marine energy.
“Scientists should study the potential of
renewable energy derived from the ocean-- from wind, wave and tidal sources”,
he added.
Asking the Institute to act as a nodal centre for
Blue Economy related research and technology development, Shri Naidu said there
was a need to focus on ocean centric technology to harness the marine resources
for sustained growth of India.
Development of technologies for deep sea mining,
underwater vehicles and underwater robotics for extraction of minerals should
be initiated. “NIO should also undertake research on development of drugs from
the sea”, he added.
The Vice President said that a focused approach
in some of the areas such as minerals from the ocean, energy from ocean can
make India a global leader and serve our national goals. ‘However, while
pursuing the “blue growth”, every effort must be made by all the stakeholders,
including private and public sectors, to prevent further degradation of the
ocean and its ecosystems’, the Vice President cautioned.
In view of global warming, resource degradation
and marine pollution, we have to conserve and sustain our oceans as time is
running out, Naidu said and advised CSIR-NIO to play a major role through its
ocean observation studies in understanding different ocean processes due to
climate change.
Shri Naidu lauded NIO for providing specialized
services to society in addressing ocean-related problems.
He also expressed happiness that the institute
helped in preparing India’s claim for an extended continental shelf with an
area of about a million square kilometres.
The Vice President also attended a presentation
on various aspects and applications of Oceanography and visited laboratories
and exhibition galleries at NIO.
He applauded the good work being done by the
Scientists and Scholars of NIO, especially in the field of conservation.