OREANDA-NEWS. The Government of India has approved the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) Project, to be located in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu and financial sanction has been issued on 06.01.2015.

The project at an estimated cost of Rs.1583.05 crore includes construction of an underground lab and associated surface facilities at Pottipuram in Bodi West hills of Theni District, in Tamil Nadu, construction of a 50 kilo ton magnetised iron calorimeter detector to study a fundamental particle called neutrino, and setting up Inter-Institutional Centre for High Energy Physics at Madurai. The environmental impact of the project has been taken into account before sanction of the project. Detailed studies on the environmental impact of the project were carried out by Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Environment & Forests, and geotechnical studies were carried out by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).

The Project is located in Tamilnadu and the application for environmental clearance was submitted to the Department of Environment & Forests, Government of Tamil- Nadu. The Government of Tamil Nadu recommended and forwarded the application to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India for concurrence. The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India has cleared the project.

This information was provided by MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today.