India to participate in the international mega science project SKA

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated06/01/2024

The Government of India has accorded its approval for India’s participation in the international mega science project, Square Kilometre Array (SKA), at an estimated cost of ₹ 1250 Cr.

This approval covers funding support for the construction phase of the international SKA Observatory (SKAO) spread over the next 7 years.
The project will be jointly funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Department of Science and Technology (DST), with DAE as the lead agency.
SKA is a state of the art, mega science international facility to build the world’s biggest and most sensitive radio telescope for addressing a wide variety of cutting-edge science goals.
The SKAO, collocated in Australia (SKA-Low) and South Africa (SKA-Mid) with operational headquarters in the UK, is expected to revolutionize radio astronomy,
- While driving the growth of many important new state-of-the-art technologies.
- Subsequent to this approval, India will be signing the SKAO treaty to become a full-fledged member of the SKA Observatory
Participation in this project will open up possibilities for development of niche skills in Indian industry and research organisations in different areas of next generation technologies
- Such as modern antenna design, sophisticated cryogenic receiver systems
The approval for India’s participation in this project underlines the emphasis laid by the Government of India on basic, applied and advanced science research.
Earlier during the year, the Government of India committed to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Fermi National Laboratory towards:
- Collaborative development of the Proton Improvement Plan-II Accelerator