The Government on Thursday approved expenditure of Rs 1.38 billion on developing a new remote sensing satellite and on a grant of Rs 1 billion for upgrading infrastructure at Bangalore's Indian Institute of Science.
The Cabinet, at a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also approved a proposal to introduce the National Institutes of Technology Bill 2006 in parliament to bring 19 such institutions within the ambit of the act, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said.
"This will enable the National Institutes of Technology to become centres of excellence like IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and help fulfil the need of the country for quality manpower in the field of engineering, science and technology," he added.
The new satellite, RESOURCESAT-2 is the in-orbit replace for RESOURCESAT-1 and will provide continuity of remote sensing data in a variety of areas, the minister said.
The Indian Institute of Science, one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in India, will utilise the grant for upgrading its infrastructure and for acquiring instrumentation for cutting-edge research, Dasmunsi added.