Bengaluru lab to get atomic cesium clock

Bengaluru's Regional Reference Standard Laboratory (RRSL) is all set to join the league of time keepers of the nation.

The laboratory that offers calibration services for weighing and measuring instruments of the industry in the region, will soon get an atomic cesium clock as part of the Centre's Rs 100 crore upgradation plans.

Besides Bengaluru, the amount will be spent on upgrading RRSLs at Faridabad, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Bhubaneshwar. Two new RRSLs will be established at Nagpur and Benares.

The regional laboratories are expected to get an infrastructure upgrade for accurate time-keeping and dissemination to clients ranging from internet service providers, mobile service providers, power grids, banking system, international trading, weather forecasting among others.

"We plan to spend Rs 100 crore over the next two years to strengthen our five RRSLs and establish two more at Nagpur and Benares," Avinash Kumar Shrivastava, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, said here.

He said Rs 20 crore has already been sanctioned in the Union Budget presented earlier this month for the purpose.

"Synchronisation of all networks and computers within the country with a national clock is a must, especially for the real time application in strategic sector and national security," he said.

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Delhi is responsible for time and frequency measurements in India and maintenance and dissemination of Indian Standard Time (IST).

According to Shrivastava, the industry that want to synchronise their time-keeping devices to the highest accuracy have to get it done from the NPL here.

"Once we synchronise the regional laboratories with the atomic cesium clock at NPL, time calibration services will be available there and one need not rush to Delhi for it," he said.

The atomic cesium clocks are so accurate that they would lose or gain one second in about three lakh years.