Atomic Energy Commission chairman Ajit Kumar Mohanty said the LIGO-India project under development in Hingoli will give India a distinct identity on the global scientific stage, as he addressed the groundbreaking ceremony for the observatory’s civil and vacuum infrastructure at Dudhala village in Aundha taluka on Thursday. The event also marked the inauguration of the project’s site office building.
LIGO-India is a state-of-the-art facility designed to detect and study gravitational waves — tiny ripples in spacetime produced by massive cosmic events such as collisions of black holes or neutron stars. The observatory will occupy a 174-acre site chosen for its low seismic noise and will mirror the design of the existing LIGO detectors in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana.
The core construction includes two underground tunnels of about 4 km each arranged in an L shape. These tunnels will house precision laser interferometers operating in ultra-high vacuum to measure infinitesimal vibrations caused by passing gravitational waves. The vacuum and civil works begun at Dudhala are critical to isolating the instruments from environmental interference.
The project is jointly implemented by the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Science and Technology, with participation from leading international research organizations. David Reitze, executive director of LIGO and a research professor at Caltech, said the observatory will help position India as “a world leader in one of the most exciting frontiers of astrophysics.”
Officials said LIGO-India will boost scientific collaboration, drive technological innovation and expand skill development opportunities in the country. Collector Rahul Gupta highlighted Hingoli’s agricultural identity by presenting the district’s famed “yellow gold” turmeric to the chief guest. Dignitaries at the ceremony included superintendent of police Nilabh Rohan and senior officials K. Mahapatra, V.P. Bhanage, Dr. Tapas Ganguli and R. Srianand, representing key institutions associated with the project.
Original Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/aurangabad/ligo-project-in-hingoli-to-give-india-global-scientific-identity-atomic-energy-commission-chair/articleshow/130503720.cms
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Publish Date: 2026-04-25 06:42:00
