Star News Agency

New Delhi. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the establishment of a permanent research base at Larsemann Hills region in East Antarctica during the XIth Five Year Plan period at a total cost of Rs.287 crore to meet the logistic and scientific objectives.

The Indian scientific expeditions to Antarctica started in 1981 and have contributed substantially to the growth of polar science in the country. Experiments mounted by Indian Scientists in disciplines such as atmospheric sciences & meteorology, earth sciences and glaciology, biology and environmental sciences have contributed to our understanding and have also complemented global experiments mounted under the aegis of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). After the total submergence of the first Indian research base Dakshin Gangotri all scientific activities were managed from second Indian research station ‘Maitri’. Towards commitment to further strengthen Indian scientific endeavours in Antarctic region, another research station with state of the art laboratories and data transmission facilities in real time has been planned to establish in Larsemann Hills region of East Antarctica. The facilities available at this research base will include a weather observatory, geomagnetic station, a permanent seismological observatory, GPS Station, ice-core drilling facilities and facilities and laboratories for environmental, human health and communication research.

The entire activity relating to the planning, coordination and implementation of the Indian Antartic Programme is managed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) through the National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa, an autonomous institute under the Ministry, established in 1998. The objective of this Programme is to continue the long-term scientific pursuits undertaken at Antarctica to understand the global processes and phenomena, some of which are directly pertinent to our needs having potential applications. The continuation emphasizes our perceptible and influential presence in Antarctica to uphold the country’s strategic interests at Antarctica and its surrounding oceans.