"India angles to expand deep-sea mining as race for minerals heats up"

From Semafor, March 21:

The News
India has applied for two new permits from the U.N.’s International Seabed Authority that would allow it to mine the Indian Ocean for precious minerals crucial to the green transition.

Massive deposits of cobalt, copper, manganese, and nickel are found on the sea floor — but there are widespread fears about the environmental impact of mining these materials.

India trying to establish itself as ‘powerhouse’

Source:  

BBC

If the new permits are granted, India will secure as many mining licenses as Russia, and one less than China. India is motivated to stay ahead in the race to mine for crucial minerals, and the Indian Ocean hosts a huge reserve of potential deposits. The country is also motivated to show that it can be a leading player in the field: “India may be ultimately seeking to project that it is a powerhouse in its own right, one that is not to be outrivalled in its own backyard, as well as to give the impression that it is not lagging behind the Chinese when it comes to the deep sea,” Pradeep Singh, who works on ocean governance at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Germany, told the BBC....

....MUCH MORE 

Another of their sources says China is leading the race to the depths but that's not really true.

Both Norway and Japan are serious as can be about seabed mining.