The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is an executive ministry of the Government of India, established to provide scientific services and advice related to the Earth and its environment. Its origin traces back to the Department of Ocean Development (DOD), which was first established in 1981 under the Cabinet Secretariat. The MoES itself was formally created on January 29, 2006, through the reorganisation of the DOD and the consolidation of various agencies. This move solved the problem of scattered functions by bringing meteorology, oceanography, seismology, and geology under one umbrella to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach to Earth System Science.
The Ministry's mandate is to look after Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean Science & Technology, and Seismology in an integrated manner. It works in a Mission Mode, guided by an Earth Commission—modeled after bodies like the Atomic Energy Commission—to formulate and oversee policies. Its key mechanism involves providing forecasts and warnings for weather, monsoons, ocean state, earthquakes, and tsunamis, and conducting research for the exploration and sustainable exploitation of marine resources and polar regions.
The MoES connects to several key institutions, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), and the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR). A recent change involves the consolidation of five autonomous institutes, such as the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), under a unified governance mechanism called the Earth System Sciences Council (ESSC), which was formally registered in December 2023. This change streamlines operations while the core mandate of providing Earth System services remains the same.