NAL completes study on RTA

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BANGALORE: Union Minister for Science and Technology Ashwani Kumar announced that Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (C..

BANGALORE: Union Minister for Science and Technology Ashwani Kumar announced that Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) has completed the feasibility study on the design and development of the Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA).
Addressing the media at NAL campus here on Friday, he said that the estimated cost of the project was `7,555 crore. Explaining further, he said that this would entail the design and development phase of `4,355 crore and a series production phase of `3,200 crore. Stressing that there would be no financial constraints to projects of this nature, Kumar said; "the Government of India fully supports such programmes, irrespective of the financial demands". Though he acknowledged the feat by NAL, he said that much more needed to be done in terms of technology, and later convert this knowledge into strategic advantages and capabilty.Underplaying the remarks made by his cabinet colleague Jairam Ramesh over the quality and contributions of the Indian research institutes, Kumar said that these were 'useless debates' to know if institutes and research organizations in the country were world class or not.

Sharing more information about the aircraft, he said that within four years, 36 aircraft would be ready. Commenting on the delay of the development of the flight, he said that they would make up for the time they lost and create an advantage with the induction of these aircrafts into Indian aviation sector. "We have sought an increase on the percentage rise from 0.98 per cent of GDP to two per cent, to be earmarked for Research and Development," he said and added that he would expect it to increase to at least 1.5 per cent. He also shared plans of the government to improve super computing abilities by such organizations and sought investments to the tune of Rs 5000 crores from the 12th Five year planning commission.

Commenting on the Civil Society vs Government debate, Kumar said that a duly elected government is the largest civil society.

He also took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stating that they had no right to comment on the issue, as their track record in Karnataka, Uttarakand and Himachal, was not 'glorious'.