DRDO's research centre to be moved to NIL building soon

Kolkata: The dedicated research centre of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) set up in collaboration with Jadavpur University (JU) will soon be moved to the National Instruments Ltd (NIL) building just opposite to gate number 4 of the university.

The centre's main purpose is to tap talent from the university in the defence sector. Christened as Jagadish Chandra Bose Centre for Advanced Technology (JCBCAT) the centre started functioning from a small space inside the campus of the varsity only a few months back. The university is hopeful that if everything goes according to plan, the shift from the campus to the renovated NIL building will take another three to four months time.

The three-storeyed building is now being renovated and a part of this building will be dedicated to JCBCAT. "40 per cent of the developed space will be used by DRDO and the rest 60 per cent will remain with us," said Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the varsity.

NIL was a central public sector enterprise under the administrative control of the Department of Heavy Industry. As it became sick, its assets, liabilities and manpower were transferred to JU on January 1, 2009, under the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) sanctioned revival scheme.

JU had taken NIL from the Department of Heavy Industry on a 297 years lease and then it was sub leased to DRDO. "The latter is now renovating the building for an advanced Centre there," a JU official said.

According to sources in the university, 20 projects will be taken up at the Centre related to three broad research verticals; Unmanned Robotics, Direct Energy and Cyber Security.

"The JCBCAT's mandate is to work in the three verticals and all the output should be useful to the defence sector. Work has already begun in four to five projects, with 100 research scholars involved," a source in the university said.

Presently the Centre has six scientists including its director G G Dutta, four technical officers and two administrative staff members.

The JU researchers have earlier helped in DRDO's missile programme with some crucial components being developed there.