Union Budget: IIA to oversee development and upgrade of four telescope infrastructure facilities

Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance, announced in the Union Budget that four telescope infrastructure facilities will be established or upgraded. These include the National Large Solar Telescope (NLST), the National Large Optical infrared Telescope (NLOT), the Himalayan Chandra Telescope, and the Cosmology Education and Research Training Center (COSMOS 2) Planetarium. The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) will oversee these projects, with the NLST planned for Ladakh, the NLOT in Hanle, the Himalayan Chandra Telescope receiving an upgrade, and the COSMOS 2 Planetarium in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh. Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (retd.), Director General of Indian Space Association (ISpA), praised the announcement as a step towards strengthening India's scientific base in astrophysics and astronomy.