Lok Sabha Question No. 123 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-16
Subject: LIGOIndia Project
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: MAHEISH GIRRI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 123 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.11.2016

## LIGO- INDIA PROJECT

123. SHRI MAHEISH GIRRI:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) the details regarding initiation of mega science LIGO-India project;
- (b) whether the Government has identified locations to set up the same and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the  methodology  of  participation  of  Indian  researchers  and  scholars  in  the  project; and
- (d)        the potential of contribution of this project to the scientific community in India?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR, PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH):

- (a) The Government has given in-principle approval for setting up Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) in India. The LIGO-India project a state-ofthe-art gravitational wave observatory on the Indian soil set up in collaboration with the LIGO Laboratory in the U.S. run by Caltech and MIT. The LIGO-India project is jointly  coordinated and executed by four premier Indian lead institutions:  the InterUniversity Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, and three of the Department of Atomic Energy's research units - the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore and Directorate of Construction, Services and Estate Management (DCSEM). Alongwith some of the Universities in the Country..
- (b) Yes,  Sir.  Site  Selection  Committee  has  identified  two  sites  for  setting  up  of  LIGOIndia.  The  two  sites  are  Aundh,  Hingoli  District  in  Maharashtra  and  Kalyanpura,  in Chittorgarh  district  of  Rajasthan.  At  the  preferred  site  Aundh,  Hingoli  District  in Maharashtra, application for land acquisition has been filed with the State authorities. The marking of land is in progress.

- (c) The  LIGO-India  Project  is  a  jointly  funded  project  by  the  Department  of  Atomic Energy (DAE) and Department of Science & Technology (DST), with DAE acting as lead  agency  for  execution  of  the  project.  In  construction  phase  the  project  will  be executed by Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore, InterUniversity  Centre  for  Astronomy  and  Astrophysics  (IUCAA),  Pune,  Institute  for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar, and Directorate of Construction, Services and Estate  Management (DCSEM), Mumbai. The researchers and scholars from these institutions will contribute directly to the Project. Researchers and scholars from other institutions will participate in the project by way of work packages in various fields of science and engineering that are needed to implement the project. After completion of  the  project,  LIGO-India  will  be  an  international  facility  where  researchers  and scholars from India and abroad can participate in the scientific experiments.
- (d) The project will motivate a large number of young, budding scientists in India to take up experimental physics and instrumentation related to LIGO as their career choice. The project will create trained manpower who can work on precision instrumentation, which will have potential applications in strategic sectors such as space and defence. All key components such as optics, lasers, isolation systems, low-noise electronics, high precision servo controls, etc., are at the forefront of their current technological limits.  Taking  up  this  project  would  generate  expertise  and  know-how  in  these advanced areas of technology, which would benefit other technological domains such as high power lasers, high precision metrology, length and time reference standards, seismic isolation, and high-end precision control techniques

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