India’s Participation in the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory Project

The Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory (TIO) is being built by an international consortium of institutes and universities in Canada, China, India, Japan and USA. The estimated cost is about US$ 1.47 billion (2012 base year). At present, it is planned to be built on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, at an altitude of about 4000 m. The mountain is already home to many of the world's largest telescopes. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, at its meeting held on 24 September 2014, approved India's participation in the TIO project at a total cost of Rs 1299.80 crores. Only about 30% of India's contribution to the project will be made in cash to be utilized for building common facilities and infrastructure. The rest will be made through design, development and manufacturing of a number of hardware, software and optical components. India's participation in the TIO is an extramural national project jointly funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). To successfully deliver India's in-kind contributions, the two funding agencies have jointly set up the India TMT Coordination Centre (ITCC) which is located at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru. IIA along with the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Nainital and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune are the key institutes which manage the India TMT project through ITCC. Being a major extra-mural national effort, several other institutes as well as universities participate in the technological, developmental and scientific aspects of the initiative.