THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s seventh Budget has brought cheer to spacetech institutions in Thiruvananthapuram district.
In fact, most of the big specific allocations made in the district are for units of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (ISRO) - ISRO’s main unit here - has got Rs 543.38 crore, while the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiamala, will benefit from a Rs 339.66-crore allocation for LPSCs.
The LPSC at Valiamala is one of three in the country - the other two being the ones at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu and Bangalore.
The ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) at Vattiyoorkavu has been earmarked ` 339.66 crore, while ISRO’s youngest institution, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), also at Valiamala, has been allocated ` 100 crore in Mukherjee’s budget.
Another factor is that the ISRO units here play a critical role in all of ISRO’s upcoming big projects, including Chandrayaan-2 and Space Capsule Recovery Experiment-2.
Yet another scientific institution in the district that has benefited is the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) at Vithura - one of five in the country. The IISERs have been earmarked ` 650 crore.