"This will be a world class laboratory for underground science and will give India an edge in research relating to understanding the fundamental laws of nature," Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh told TOI. "When completed, this will house the world’s most massive magnet."
The India based neutrino observatory (INO) project, entailing the study of neutrinos or sub-atomic particles present in the atmosphere, will be executed by the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and 20 other scientific institutions in the country. A massive detector made of iron, weighing 51 kilotons, will be used to detect neutrinos.
According to Naba K Mondal, INO spokesman and a scientist with TIFR, India will be the fourth country to execute such a massive project after Canada, Japan and Italy. "We expect to begin construction for this project by March 2012 after clearance from the Atomic Energy Commission and the central cabinet," he said.
According to the MoEF, the project is expected to be completed by 2015 at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore. "The lab will be housed in a cavern built at a depth of one km from the surface, at the end of a two-km long tunnel," Mondal said. The MoEF had been keen on locating the project in Tamil Nadu, in view of the state’s "conducive atmosphere".