NEW DELHI – India has secured a 15-year contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to explore polymetallic sulphides in the Indian Ocean, extending its position as one of the most active emerging players in deep-sea mineral exploration. The deal, signed on 20 September 2025, covers nearly 10,000 sq. km of the Carlsberg Ridge and makes India the first country worldwide to hold two ISA contracts for sulphide exploration.
The new agreement comes in addition to India’s existing contract covering the Central and Southwest Indian Ridges, giving the country the largest exploration area currently allotted by the ISA for polymetallic sulphides. The ISA, established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), regulates mineral exploration and potential exploitation in seabed areas beyond national jurisdictions.
What Polymetallic Sulphides Mean for Mining
Polymetallic sulphides form around hydrothermal vents and are enriched with copper, zinc, gold, and silver—metals critical for renewable energy infrastructure, electronics, and advanced industrial technologies. Unlike polymetallic nodules, which are scattered across abyssal plains, sulphides are concentrated around mid-ocean ridges and volcanic activity zones, often in geologically complex environments.
For miners, the significance lies in ore grade. Studies from ISA contractors indicate that hydrothermal sulphides can contain copper grades above 5% and zinc grades exceeding 10%, figures far higher than most terrestrial deposits. Yet, extraction is fraught with engineering challenges and environmental scrutiny.
India’s Strategic Intent
Building the Blue Economy
The contract aligns with India’s Deep Ocean Mission, a $500 million program designed to expand seabed resource exploration, develop subsea technologies, and reinforce the nation’s maritime influence. Government officials stress that the deal will “enhance India’s mineral security” by reducing dependence on imports for critical metals.
Geopolitical Leverage
In a world where supply chains for copper, rare earths, and battery metals are increasingly weaponized, India’s expanded rights signal intent to be more than a passive buyer of raw materials. Access to deep-sea resources provides a hedge against disruptions in terrestrial mining hubs from Chile to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Domestic Industry Benefits
If commercialized, sulphide resources could feed India’s electrical equipment, renewable energy, and electronics sectors—all expanding under the government’s Make in India strategy. Even at the exploration stage, the program generates demand for ROVs, subsea sensors, and marine research vessels.
Environmental and Regulatory Hurdles
Environmental groups, including the IUCN, have warned that disturbing hydrothermal ecosystems could cause irreversible biodiversity loss. Sediment plumes, noise, and chemical leakage remain largely unquantified risks.
The ISA is still finalizing its Mining Code, expected to set global standards for environmental safeguards, liability, and benefit-sharing. Until those rules are adopted, all contracts—including India’s—are limited to exploration. Commercial exploitation is off the table.
International Landscape
India joins countries such as China, Japan, and Russia, all of whom maintain ISA contracts across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Yet despite more than two decades of exploration, no country has commenced large-scale commercial seabed mining in international waters. Investors remain cautious, balancing resource potential against legal uncertainty and reputational risk.
Some governments, including Germany and France, have called for a moratorium on exploitation until the science of environmental impacts is more developed. For miners, this regulatory limbo complicates forward planning and capital allocation.
Skillings Analysis
India’s dual ISA contracts mark a turning point in the geopolitics of seabed resources. The government is betting that critical minerals will remain supply-constrained, and that having “first mover” rights in sulphides provides strategic leverage.
However, miners should note that the gap between exploration rights and commercial mining remains wide. Costs for subsea mining systems can exceed $1 billion, and regulatory uncertainty could stall development for another decade.
For the global mining sector, India’s move is both an opportunity and a warning: opportunity in technology partnerships and joint ventures, warning in the likelihood of escalating competition over seabed rights.
Looking Ahead
With ISA negotiations over the Mining Code expected to continue into 2026, the immediate horizon is one of research, surveys, and technology trials, not extraction. For mining companies, the next quarter will be about monitoring how India positions itself at the ISA Council and whether New Delhi aligns with calls for accelerated exploitation or environmental restraint.
Either way, India’s bold step ensures the seabed will remain a contested and closely watched frontier for mining well into the next decade.
