As a stagewise development of the mining system, the work of design and development of shallow bed crawler for sand mining and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for inspection and maintenance was entrusted to Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Durgapur. The design of crawler based collector system was completed. The integrated design for collection and transportation of the heavy mineral sands from offshore site of Chavara in Kerala was taken up jointly by CMERI, Durgapur, National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Madras, Mechanical Engineering Research & Development Organisation (MERADO), Madras and Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL). The specifications and detailed design of upgraded version of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), were also completed.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Study at Chavara site was commissioned. The pre-dredge baseline data collection activities were carried out by Regional Centre, National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Cochin; Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Cochin; School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University; Geological Survey of India (GSI), Calcutta and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Madras.

Action plan was initiated for developing a mining complex module with a mining capacity of 100,000 tonne per year capable of working upto 6000 metre depth as a joint development programme along with external agencies.