A year-old proposal of the government to set up an advanced science research centre under the auspices of Mangalore University is on the verge of becoming a reality.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would lay the foundation stone for it at Belapu village, Udupi district on April 20, K. Byrappa, Vice-Chancellor, Mangalore University, told The Hindu .

The State government announced plans to establish the centre in its 2014-15 budget using funds from the Rashtriya Uchchatara Shikshana Abhiyana (RUSA). It was one of the two such centres announced by the government in the budget. The other one was for Bengaluru.

Of 100 acres sought by the university for setting up the centre at Belapu, the government has sanctioned 24.86 acres, of which 20 acres has been handed over to the university. The State Cabinet has approved Rs. 15 crore to the centre as first instalment for 2015-16. The university had received a letter to this effect, he said.

Mr. Byrappa said the centre would be developed on the lines of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, and Tsukuba science city, a planned city in Japan, located about 50 km from Tokyo.

Earlier, a committee of the university had submitted to the government a proposal conceptualising the facilities that would come up at the centre. It had estimated the project cost in phases at Rs. 141.38 crore.

The proposal dealt specifically on the requirement of funds, and facilities such as laboratories, hostels, administrative buildings, bank and other offices that would come up there.

Research area

The research would focus on the analysis of Western Ghats species of plants under threat and their conservation; research and development of plant extracts for identified diseases; developing medicine for communicable diseases and using nano-technology for developing devices for cancer treatment.

He said one of the major objectives of the centre would be to find out an effective medicine for controlling malaria which is rampant in Mangaluru.

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Mangalore Universitys advanced science research centre to materialise soon