The Union environment ministry and the department of fisheries have approved seven deep-sea mining blocks off the coast of the Great Nicobar Island, Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The Centre has also approved other blocks located off the coasts of Gujarat and Kerala.

Reddy provided the details in response to an MP’s question about whether the government was granting licences for offshore mining, the details of such licences by state and if scientific study had been conducted on the impact of such mining on the fragile marine ecosystem.

To conserve marine species, the environment ministry has notified 130 Marine Protected Areas across coastal states and islands, Reddy stated. Additionally, 106 coastal and marine sites have been identified and prioritised as Important Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Areas. The offshore blocks have been demarcated to exclude these areas, Reddy clarified.

The approval comes alongside plans for the Great Nicobar Development Project, which is set to take shape on the island. Major components of the project include a shipping port, an international airport, a power plant and a township.

The Niti Aayog-led project has faced criticism for its potential impact on the island’s biodiversity, rainforests and endemic species.

Great Nicobar is part of the Nicobar Islands, which fall within the Sundaland Biodiversity Hotspot, spanning the western half of the Indonesian archipelago. Concerns have been raised about the impact of large infrastructure projects on the Shompen, a vulnerable tribal group, and the Nicobarese community.

Reddy also informed the House that, under Section 16A of the 2002 Offshore Areas Minerals Development and Regulation Act, the Offshore Areas Mineral Trust has been established as a non-profit autonomous body. Kerala, Gujarat, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are members of the trust’s governing body and executive committee.

The funds received by the trust would be used for research and expenditure related to offshore areas and to mitigate “any adverse impact that may be caused to the ecology in the offshore area, due to operations undertaken”, and for the benefit of persons affected by the operations, Reddy said in his written response.

Deep-sea mining involves extracting metals and minerals from the seabed at depths of more than 200 metres. This can be done to obtain polymetallic nodules, cobalt-rich crustal material and polymetallic sulphides from hydrothermal vents.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has warned that deep-sea mining may cause irreversible loss of species and damage seabed ecosystems for thousands of years. Researchers have identified polymetallic nodule fields as biodiversity hotspots, with many highly vulnerable species of fauna living attached to nodules or within the sediment immediately below.

Also read: On the Great Nicobar island, why the future is fearful