Technical cooperation and support for setting up and initial strategy and operation of the National Geotechnical Facility (NGF) of India

The National Geotechnical Facility (NGF) has been sucessfully set-up in India with support from the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Oslo. This has been a major achievement of the Project. Norwegian Minister Tora Asland and Indian State Secretary in th e Ministry of Science and Technology Dr. Ramasamy inaugurated the Facility in 2011. The set-up of NGF has received a considerable amount of attention in India. It has employed about 10 persons. Key infrastructure development authorities such as hydropower sector and Indian Railways are exploring the possibility of using the Facility for carrying out rock & soil testing and ground investigations at sites for infrastructure development in the country.

The goal of the Project is to support India's efforts to establish a National Geotechnical Facility and enhance bilateral cooperation within the geosciences. The project aims at: - providing technical support for setting-up the National Geotechnical Fac ility (NGF) in India and assisting with its initial strategy and plans for operation; - strengthening ties between Indian and Norwegian organisations within the geosciences; - enabling two-way exchange of professional personnel; - holding joint Worksho ps/Seminars/Study tours; - building up capacity and competence at NGF; - improved facilities for geotechnical labortory testing of soil, rock and concrete; - enhanced professional geo-capacity of indian counterparts in soil and rock testing and enginee ring; - strengthened ties between the civil engineering community in India and Norway; - self-sustained NGF within a period of about 5 years by generating resources through research and consultancy projects; A possible spin-off from the NGF may be to b ecome a partner for NGI for their geotechnical outreach and research in Asia, which would be of benefit to both NGI and NGF.