DRDO offers to take Delhi's Rs 40-crore Games balloon

After lying idle in huge containers inside the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium for the past five months, the Rs 40-crore aerostat - the giant helium balloon that was the show-stealer at the 2010 Commonwealth Games inauguration - has found a taker.

After lying idle in huge containers inside the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium for the past five months, the Rs 40-crore aerostat - the giant helium balloon that was the show-stealer at the 2010 Commonwealth Games inauguration - has found a taker.

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The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) wants it for surveillance research.

The Games organisers had been struggling to find bidders for the aerostat. Even their offer to give it away for free to any government agency had found no takers.

The DRDO has developed a similar aerostat called 'Akashdeep' in its Agra lab for surveillance research, which can keep an eye on a 30-km radius.

"This can be upgraded depending on the army's requirement. We would like to use it for similar purposes," said RK Gupta, DRDO spokesperson.

The CWG aerostat has cameras that give a 360-degree view.

The Games Organising Committee chief Jarnail Singh said the sports ministry would take the final decision. The OC was recently slapped with a Rs 8-crore duty on the aerostat.