After 'Smart City,' the NDA government is now coming with 'Science City' concept and has plans to set up such regions at about five to six zones across India. Revealing about this, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y S Chowdary said, the whole idea behind this is to expand the science and technology footprint in the country.

“Some states have got proper number of scientific and research labs while others don't have. The idea is to use a hub-and-spoke model to establish five to six zones covering science centres in all states,” said Chowdary. He further added that the matter is under discussion. Each and every hub (zone), which will have a Science City and in turn it will serve scientific institutions across different states. The Science City in each zone will have all infrastructure facilities including research labs and convention centres where conferences can be organised.

The Minister also said the Central government is planning to establish a mega 'Solar Research' institute in the country with international collaboration. The institute could be set up either in Rajasthan or in Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh state and a decision on this will arrive shortly. The Science and Technology Ministry is expecting around 30 per cent funds allocations in the forthcoming budget.

TVR