Sonapur: CM Sonowal Lays Foundation Stone For Science City

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday laid foundation stone for a science city in the outskirts of Guwahati in Sonapur to popularize science and technology at the grassroot level in the state.

Covering an area of 250 bighas, the science city will be built at a cost of Rs 184 crore. It will be jointly built by the National Council of Science Museums. The Centre and the State government will share the total cost of the project in 90:10 ratio, a press release issued by the CM's office stated.

CM Sonowal, during his speech at the ceremony, said that the 21st century is the age of science and technology and therefore, the young generation of the State must acquire knowledge in this field to become human resources of the highest quality.

The State government is endeavouring to make Guwahati the gateway to the entire South East Asia and hence infrastructure is being developed in and around the city at a rapid pace, he added.

Science and technology minister Keshab Mahanta, who was also present during the ceremony, termed the foundation-stone laying occasion of the science city a historic one. He reiterated that the previous governments did not provide the kind of budget to the science and technology department as was being done by the present government.

Mahanta also informed that steps have been taken to set up science centres in all the districts. They will be of equal standard as the Regional Science Centre in Guwahati.

Additionally, an ISRO centre at Amingaon will also be built, the land for which has already been made available for its setting up, Mahanta said. He added that works on the Biotech Park covering an area of 64 bighas at Amingaon has already been completed.