Vasco-da-Gama, June 11
India on Saturday expressed confidence of getting approval from the UN for almost doubling its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which will open a new vista in exploration of oil and natural gas and ocean-based mineral resources in offshore areas in continental shelf beyond the existing 200 nautical miles.

Speaking to mediapersons at the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), here, Minister of Earth Sciences Ashwani Kumar said India was among the few countries which had been able to give evidence to the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for extending the continental shelf around its 7000-km coastal line from the existing 200 nautical miles to 350 nautical miles.

Under the provision of the UNCLOS, a coastal country can seek extension of its EEZ beyond the approved 200 nautical miles, if it can demonstrate through scientific documentation that the continental shelf of the country extends beyond that distance throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory.

India submitted its claim to the UN commission in August last year, producing data worth 6000 pages, which were collected over a period of almost a decade, placing it among the few countries which have been able to give evidence to lay their claims over extended continental shelf around them.

The claim if ratified by the UNCLOS would help India in exploring additional area and exploit mineral resources in those areas. However, this claim will not extend to the waters in the area.

The Indian Continental Shelf Project was started in 1999 by a team of 60 scientists to collect data for extension of the Indian continental shelf.

However, the exercise could lead to overlapping claims from neighboring countries, which will have to be settled by the UNCLOS. India’s neighbours, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, have also submitted similar claims. In fact, so far 56 countries have submitted their documents to the UN commission, out of which 14 cases have been settled. India is 48th on the list.

Besides the data collected for submission of the claim, during the course of the Indian Continental Shelf Programme as well as other geophysical cruises in the Indian ocean region, a huge volume of marine geophysical data was gathered, which will be of great scientific value for understanding the evolution of Indian ocean, said NCAOR Director Rasik Ravindra. “While the scientific and technical information gathered would serve its primary purpose of delineating the outer limits of India’s continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, the surveys have also furnished invaluable data that could form the cornerstone of the country’s planned endeavours in the oceanic realm,” he said.