The State government has identified land for the proposed missile testing range in Nagayalanka mandal, near the coastal town. Details of the land available have been sent to the defence authorities.

Krishna District Collector Budhaprakash Jyothi said following a plea by the DRDO seeking land near Machilipantam for setting up the long range missile testing site, the Revenue officials forwarded the file to the Government of India on the extent of land and other information.

Machilipatnam Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) I. Venkateswara Reddy said that the DRDO had asked for land a few months ago and a 325-acre land was identified at Gollalamoda village for the new missile launch site. A few acres of the land are under occupation by local fishermen and farmers.

“The DRDO asked for 350 acres for the launch site. Recently, we submitted the details on the type of land available, price position and how much land is under occupation. We are waiting for further orders from the government”, said the RDO.

Director General of DRDO and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, V.K. Saraswat, announced the launch of the missile testing range, near the Coastal town in Machilipatnam, in Andhra Pradesh at a cost of Rs.1,000 crore.

The ambitious project is expected to be completed in three years.

source: http://www.CurrentEventsWorld.com / Home> Science Technolgy / December 09th, 2012