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Seaweeds, one of the important marine living resources could be termed as the futuristically promising plants. These plants have been a source of food, feed and medicine in the orient as well as in the west, since ancient times. Although, seaweeds in India are used for industrial production of agar and alginate and as a fertilizer, it is yet to be utilized on a large scale for various purposes, which is not being done, due to lack of its awareness among the Indian populace. In order to harness the rich potential of seaweeds in India, the present limited use needs to be diversified into other contemporary areas of application. Being a plant of unique structure and biochemical composition, seaweed could be exploited for its multi-functional properties in the form of food, energy, medicine and consmetics. In addition to the comprehensive view on its uses, the article also calls for the need to implement biotechnological tools for sustainable management of seaweed resources. All in all, an attempt has been made to highlight the prospects of seaweed in India in the modern context. IN THE VAST ocean realm, several forms of life, starting from unicellular to multi-cellular flourish, multiply and disintegrate. It is believed that the first living cell that appeared on the planet Earth emerged from the ocean. In all its form, the life has developed from the growth of mono-cellular algae. About 90% of the species of marine plants are algae and about 50% of the global photosynthesis is algal derived'. Thus, every second molecule of oxygen we inhale comes from algae and algae reuse every second molecule of carbon dioxide we exhale2 . The tapping of solar energy by land plants have been considerably reduced due to the change in land use pattern, agriculture, degraded forests and pollution. The oceans provide unlimited space for capturing solar energy by marine plants through photosynthesis. Marine plants comprise of algae, sea grasses, mangroves and sand dune vegetation. The algae are of different shapes and sizes. The microscopic algae are known as phytoplankton and macroscopic ones as seaweeds.