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Sunday, Aug 19, 2007
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BARC unit for Visakhapatnam

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Union Government will be setting up an expansion unit of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh that will mainly focus on research and development (R&D) programmes, said Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh here on Saturday.

Stating that an initial investment of over Rs.2,000 crore has been earmarked for the ambitious project, Mr. Ramesh, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh, said the project was part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) alliance Government’s developmental projects for the State.

The Visakhapatnam project would be spread in nearly 1,500 acres on the city’s outskirts, the Minister said. In size, the BARC’s new unit would be as large as its headquarters situated in Trombay near Mumbai. The new unit would focus on basic research to meet India’s future needs, he said.

Denying that the Centre was discriminating against Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Ramesh said the UPA Government has already released around Rs.10,000 crore for various flagship programmes including the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, National Urban Renewal Mission, National Rural Health Mission and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2006-07. “The allocation for Andhra Pradesh is more than what is being given to any other southern State,” he said.

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