Karunanidhi wants ISRO's third launch pad to be established in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Reviving his demand for establishing ISRO's third rocket launching pad in Tamil Nadu, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi on Wednesday said its establishment would develop southern districts in the state.

Observing that Kulasekarapattinam of south Tamil Nadu is a suitable location for the third launch pad, as opined by experts from ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district, he said, "If the facility comes there, it would help in the development of southern districts."

Contending that there was a doubt whether ISRO has any "hatredness" or "indifference" towards Tamil Nadu, the DMK chief claimed while the Centre allocated funds to carry out over 60 projects for ISRO, all of them were given to Andhra Pradesh.

If the launch pad was established in Kulasekarapattinam, over 4,000 and 10,000 persons would get direct and indirect employment, while over Rs three lakh crore investment would be made, he claimed.

He referred to government's reply to his daughter and MP Kanimozhi in the Rajya Sabha that the national space agency would enhance the launch frequency to 12 launches per year by 2017, as it has two operational launch pads located at Sriharikota.