HYDERABAD: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has proposed to set up a laboratory for manufacturing devices relating to electronic warfare projects and an evalutaion facility in Kadapa district.
Officials of the DRDO, which is a state-owned firm and is responsible to develop technology used by the Armed Forces, on Wednesday called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the Lake View guest house and requested him to allocate land in Kadapa for the proposed laboratory.
According to sources, when the DRDO officials requested Naidu to allot land for in Kopparthi village, officials of the state government informed the chief minister that nearly 3,383 acres had been identified for setting up the lab. “The Chief Minister replied in the affirmative (to the request on the allotment of the land,” a statement from the Chief minister’s Office said.
According to sources in the CMO, the DRDO delegation further informed the Chief Minister that the Government of India (GoI) had already sanctioned `468 crore for the works to be taken up in the first phase of the project. Phase-I works are expected to be completed within 42 months while the total investment earmarked is `10,000 crore over a period of 10 years.
The DRDO officials told Naidu that the lab will attract more investments from domestic as well as foreign companies. The lab is expected to generate 1,500 employment opportunities to skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled personnel.