The last century had seen a surge in scientific exploration of oceans around the world to amply understand its marine and coastal zones. A deep knowledge of the marine ecosystem is necessary to explore, assess, manage, and sustainably exploit the living, non-living and oil and gas resources. India too is active in systematic exploration of its oceans and seas. Oil is being extracted from offshore platforms, and exploration for polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin has been completed. Coastal development and protection measures are carried out unceasingly for efficient and safe use of this vast area for trade, tourism, recreation, energy and food. Coastal regulation policy is in place to safe guard the ecosystem and habitat restoration, as well as safe use of the zone. To direct the development in this zone, deep understanding of the characteristics of the beach, shelf and the seafloor is necessary. In this context, research on marine geology is relevant in the present times, as it directly adds value to the ‘blue economy’ of the nation. Government of India having recognised this, has invested in setting up several world class institutions to carryout research on different aspects of ocean science and technology. The author has attempted to document the growth, present status of research in marine geology in institutions of higher learning in India. This paper also provides a glimpse of the marine geology research in the leading institutions of the world.