Ministry of Earth Sciences

The Ministry of Earth Sciences is an executive ministry of the Government of India, established on 29 January, 2006. It was formed through the reorganisation of the Department of Ocean Development and the assumption of administrative control over various institutions, including the India Meteorological Department,^[2] the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting,^[3] the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology,^[4] and the Earth Risk Evaluation Centre.^[5]

Ministry of Earth Sciences

Branch of Government of India
Ministry of Earth Sciences
Agency overview
Formed	29 January 2006; 19 years ago (2006-01-29)
Jurisdiction	Government of India
Headquarters	Prithvi Bhavan Lodi Road New Delhi 28°35′28″N 77°13′32″E
Annual budget	₹2,653.51 crore (US$310 million) (2022-23)[1]
Minister responsible	Jitendra Singh (I/C)
Agency executive	Dr. M. Ravichandran
Website	www.moes.gov.in

History

In 1981, the Government of India established the Department of Ocean Development (DOD) under the Cabinet Secretariat, directly reporting to the Prime Minister of India. In 1982, it became a separate department and began focusing on ocean development activities. In 2006, the department was elevated to a Ministry, known as the Ministry of Ocean Development. Later that same year, the ministry underwent reorganisation, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences was created, incorporating various institutions under its jurisdiction. Through a government resolution in 2006, the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting and Research were brought under its administrative control. The resolution also led to the establishment of an Earth Commission, modelled after the Atomic Energy Commission and the Space Commission.^[6]

The ministry is currently headed by Jitendra Singh.

Functions

The Ministry's mandate is to look after Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean Science & Technology and Seismology in an integrated fashion.

Institutions under the Earth System Science Organisation

• National Centre for Coastal Research
• Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology
• India Meteorological Department
• National Centre for Seismology
• Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services
• National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting
• National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research
• National Institute of Ocean Technology
• Bharat Forecast System
• Earthquake Risk Evaluation Centre (under the Atmospheric Sciences and Seismology sector)
• Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre
• Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (under the Ocean Science & Technology sector)
• National Center for Earth Science Studies

Cabinet Ministers

• Note: MoS, I/C – Minister of State (Independent Charge)

No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
Minister in the Department of Ocean Development
1			Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991) MP for Amethi (Prime Minister)	31 December 1984	2 December 1989	4 years, 336 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rajiv II		Self
2			Vishwanath Pratap Singh (1931–2008) MP for Fatehpur (Prime Minister)	2 December 1989	10 November 1990	343 days	Janata Dal	Vishwanath		Self
3			Chandra Shekhar (1927–2007) MP for Ballia (Prime Minister)	10 November 1990	21 June 1991	223 days	Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)	Chandra Shekhar		Self
4			P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Nandyal (Prime Minister)	21 June 1991	16 May 1996	4 years, 330 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		Self
5			Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister)	16 May 1996	1 June 1996	16 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee I		Self
6			H. D. Deve Gowda (born 1933) Rajya Sabha MP for Karnataka (Prime Minister)	1 June 1996	21 April 1997	324 days	Janata Dal	Deve Gowda		Self
7			Inder Kumar Gujral (1919–2012) Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar (Prime Minister)	21 April 1997	18 March 1998	331 days		Gujral		Self
(5)			Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister)	19 March 1998	3 February 1999	321 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee II		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
8			Murli Manohar Joshi (born 1934) MP for Allahabad	3 February 1999	13 October 1999	252 days
(5)			Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister)	13 October 1999	22 November 1999	40 days		Vajpayee III
(8)			Murli Manohar Joshi (born 1934) MP for Allahabad	22 November 1999	22 May 2004	4 years, 182 days
9			Kapil Sibal (born 1948) MP for Chandni Chowk (MoS, I/C)	23 May 2004	29 January 2006	1 year, 251 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
Minister of Ocean Development
(9)			Kapil Sibal (born 1948) MP for Chandni Chowk	29 January 2006	12 July 2006	164 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
Minister of Earth Sciences
(9)			Kapil Sibal (born 1948) MP for Chandni Chowk	12 July 2006	22 May 2009	2 years, 314 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
10			Prithviraj Chavan (born 1946) Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra (MoS, I/C)	28 May 2009	10 November 2010	1 year, 166 days		Manmohan II
(9)			Kapil Sibal (born 1948) MP for Chandni Chowk	10 November 2010	19 January 2011	70 days
11			Pawan Kumar Bansal (born 1948) MP for Chandigarh	19 January 2011	12 July 2011	174 days
12			Vilasrao Deshmukh (1945–2012) Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra	12 July 2011	10 August 2012	1 year, 29 days
13			Vayalar Ravi (born 1937) Rajya Sabha MP for Kerala	10 August 2012	28 October 2012	79 days
14			S. Jaipal Reddy (1942–2019) MP for Chevella	28 October 2012	26 May 2014	1 year, 210 days
15			Jitendra Singh (born 1956) MP for Udhampur (MoS, I/C)	27 May 2014	9 November 2014	166 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
16			Harsh Vardhan (born 1954) MP for Chandni Chowk	9 November 2014	30 May 2019	6 years, 240 days
				31 May 2019	7 July 2021			Modi II
(15)			Jitendra Singh (born 1956) MP for Udhampur (MoS, I/C)	7 July 2021	18 May 2023	1 year, 315 days
17			Kiren Rijiju (born 1971) MP for Arunachal West	18 May 2023	9 June 2024	1 year, 22 days
(15)			Jitendra Singh (born 1956) MP for Udhampur (MoS, I/C)	10 June 2024	Incumbent	354 days		Modi III

Ministers of State

No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
1			C. P. N. Singh MP for Padrauna	15 February 1982	2 February 1983	352 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
2			Shivraj Patil (born 1935) MP for Latur	29 January 1983	31 October 1984	3 years, 262 days
				4 November 1984	31 December 1984			Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
				31 December 1984	22 October 1986			Rajiv II
3			K. R. Narayanan (1921–2005) MP for Ottapalam	22 October 1986	2 December 1989	3 years, 41 days
4			M. G. K. Menon (1928–2016) Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan	25 December 1989	10 November 1990	320 days	Janata Dal	Vishwanath		Vishwanath Pratap Singh
5			Rangarajan Kumaramangalam (1952–2000) MP for Salem	2 July 1992	2 December 1993	1 year, 153 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
6			Eduardo Faleiro (born 1940) MP for Mormugao	18 December 1993	16 May 1996	2 years, 150 days
Minister of State for Earth Sciences
7			Ashwani Kumar (born 1952) Rajya Sabha MP for Punjab	19 January 2011	28 October 2012	1 year, 283 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan II		Manmohan Singh
8			Y. S. Chowdary (born 1961) Rajya Sabha MP for Andhra Pradesh	9 November 2014	9 March 2018	3 years, 120 days	Telugu Desam Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi

Networking

All institutions under ESSO are connected through National Knowledge Network and its Common User Group (CUG).

Computation Facility

Adithya HPC, located at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, is one of the largest computation facility in India.

See also

• Ministry of Science and Technology (India)