Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday (17 June) visited the project site for the National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) near the strategic Pangong Lake in Merak, Ladakh. “Smt @nsitharaman visits the project site for National Large Solar Telescope (NLST), located near the Pangong lake in Merak, Ladakh at an altitude of around 4200m,” Sitharaman’s office said in a post on X.

The NLST is a proposed 2-meter class optical and near infra-red (IR) observational facility that will leverage the site’s significant periods of high atmospheric transparency for coronagraphic observations. Annapurni Subramaniam, Director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), accompanied the minister during her visit.

This visit followed Sitharaman’s laying of the foundation stone on Sunday (15 June) for a mini planetarium and Astro Globe at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in the Changthang region. This initiative, sanctioned under a special development package at an estimated cost of Rs 276.65 lakh, aims to promote scientific education, astro-tourism, and generate local employment.

At the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre’s Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment (MACE) Telescope facility in Hanle, Professor Subramaniam and K K Yadav from BARC’s Astrophysical Sciences Division presented the telescope’s current achievements and future plans.

Sitharaman applauded the collaborative efforts of the IIA and the local community, remarking, “This project symbolises a collaborative spirit between the scientific and public community, a true matter of national pride.”

She urged the development of public programmes to spark interest in astrophysics through hands-on learning and proactive content sharing from these scientific centers.