Centre clears tech package for Punjab

The Centre today gave its clearance for a Rs 400 crore package for setting up of a cluster of premier technology institutes including a national institute of bio-technology for agri-foods and a Rs 150-crore national institute for nanotechnology in Punjab.

In addition, the Centre has also agreed to upgrade the medical institute at Jalandhar to a National Institute for Research in Health Sciences with an annual funding of Rs 100 crore on the pattern of the country's only such centre at Chitra Trinamool.

The centre has also approved the proposal for setting up of a centre of excellence of key seed technologies through genetic engineering in the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

In another major decision, the centre asked the Punjab government to identify at least one college in every city to be given the prestigious status of a "Star Life Sciences College".

These colleges would be treated as role models in excellence in learning for which the centre would provide technical backup.

The centre also gave a green signal for a research and marketing centre for medicinal and aromatic plants which dominate the foothills of Punjab along the Himachal border.

The proposal for an institute for bio-technology-based programmes for women and rural development has also been reserved for "positive response after appropriate clearance."

The Centre's nod for the clearance of these projects came at the end of a meeting between the Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal and the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at Vigyan Kendra at New Delhi here this afternoon.

The Centre has also agreed to extend the 3-D mapping technology to Punjab. This will dramatically improve the geo-climatic evaluation of every nook and corner of the state and will have a major impact on its agricultural economy.

The same technology would also be extended to urban areas to ensure planned and regulated development of cities.

Among the other proposals which received the Centre's nod were the establishment of an Institute of Innovative and Emerging Technologies at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and a centre of excellence for technology assessment and transfer.