In the 1870 Jules Verne classic ¡°20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,¡± underwater explorer Captain Nemo predicted the mining of the ocean floor¡¯s mineral bounty: zinc, iron, silver and gold.

India is catching up with that as it prepares to unearth treasures down below.

The floor of the world¡¯s seas is scattered with vast beds of black potato-shaped polymetallic nodules containing copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, iron and rare earth elements.