India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO)

• The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) Project is a collaborative effort among multiple institutions to establish a world-class underground laboratory in India. 

•  The INO project is jointly supported by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Department of Science & Technology (DST) with DAE acting as the nodal agency.

• This facility will be located beneath approximately 1200 metres of rock and will focus on non accelerator  based high-energy and nuclear physics research.

• The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is currently in the feasibility study stage. 

• Over 50 scientists from approximately 15 institutes and universities across India have joined forces to form the National Neutrino Collaboration Group (NNCG). 

• This group is responsible for detailing various aspects of the INO project and developing a proposal for an underground neutrino laboratory.

• The INO collaboration has selected the Bodi West Hills (BWH) region, near Pottipuram village in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu, as the location.

• It offers the unique possibility of locating a neutrino detector near the Earth's equator.

It can have interesting consequences for solar neutrinos, as they would pass through the Earth's core on their way to the detector from the Sun at night.