New Delhi, Jan 18 (AHN) Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh, launched India's first-ever open-sea marine fish farming project from the Andaman Sea on Sunday.

The minister described the initiative as one of the first major steps in the direction of realising the Blue Economy through India's vast ocean resources, as envisaged and repeatedly emphasised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The project was launched on-site at North Bay, Sri Vijaya Puram, during the minister’s field visit to the open waters of the Andaman Sea.

The project is being implemented through collaboration between the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, its technical arm the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), and the UT Administration of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The pilot initiative focuses on open-sea cultivation of marine finfish and seaweed in natural ocean conditions, integrating scientific innovation with livelihood generation.

In his address on the occasion, Dr Singh said that this initiative represents one of the earliest and most significant steps taken to unlock the economic potential of India's oceans.

He noted that India's oceans, much like its Himalayan and mainland resources, possess immense and diverse economic potential that had not received due attention for decades.

During the field visit, two major livelihood-oriented interventions were initiated. Under the marine flora component, seaweed seeds were handed over by the minister to local fishing communities to promote deep-water seaweed cultivation in the open sea.

Under the marine fauna component, finfish seeds were provided for cage-based cultivation, supported by NIOT-developed open-sea cages designed to function in natural oceanic environments.

Dr Singh said that while the current projects are being undertaken through government-led collaboration, the experience gained and feasibility assessments could enable scaling up of such initiatives through public–private participation models in the future. This approach, he noted, would help accelerate deployment, expand livelihoods, and strengthen India’s Blue Economy ecosystem.

The minister stated that for nearly 70 years after Independence, India’s ocean resources remained largely underexplored.

He underlined that since 2014, there has been a fundamental shift in national thinking, recognising that India’s maritime domain holds equal wealth and opportunity for economic growth.

He further highlighted the exclusive and heterogeneous nature of India’s oceans, noting that the western, southern, and eastern seaboards each have distinct characteristics and unique contributions to make to the country’s development.

Later, as part of his visit to the Andaman Islands, Dr Singh also visited the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park (MGMNP) near Wandoor, one of the first marine parks of its kind in the country, established in 1983.

Spread across 15 islands and accessed via the Wandoor Jetty, the park is renowned for its protected islands such as Jolly Buoy and Red Skin. The Minister observed the park’s rich and self-sustaining marine ecosystem, including vibrant coral reefs, mangroves, and diverse marine life such as turtles and a wide variety of fish species.