New Delhi/UNI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the programme marking National Technology Day (NTD) 2023 and dedicate several scientific projects to the nation at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on Thursday.

The programme will also mark the commencement of celebration of the 25th year of National Technology Day, which will be held from May 11 to May 14.

"The National Technology Day 2023 has a special focus on Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)" said the PM office in a statement.

Highlighting the theme of this year's National Technology Day, the AIM Pavilion will showcase multiple innovative projects and provide an opportunity for the visitors to witness live tinkering sessions, engage in tinkering activities, witness outstanding innovations and products by Startups.

During the programme, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Expo showcasing scientific & technological advancements made in India in the recent past. He will also release commemorative stamps and coins on the occasion.

The celebration of National Technology Day was started by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999 to honour Indian scientists, engineers and technologists for successful conduct of Pokhran tests in May 1998.

Since then, National Technology Day is observed every year on May 11. It is celebrated with a new and different theme every year. This year's theme is ‘School to Startups- Igniting Young Minds to Innovate’.

As per the statement by the Prime Minister office, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation multiple projects related to scientific and technological advancement in the country, worth more than Rs 5800 crore.

"This is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat through strengthening scientific institutions in the country" it said.

The release said the projects whose foundation stone would be laid include Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory – India (LIGO-India), Hingoli; Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Jatni, Odisha; and Platinum Jubilee Block of Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai.

LIGO-India, to be developed in Hingoli, Maharashtra, will be one of the handful Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave observatories in the world.

It is an extremely sensitive interferometer of 4 km arm length capable of sensing gravitational waves generated during the merger of massive astrophysical objects such as black holes, and neutron stars.

The LIGO-India will work in synchronisation with two such observatories operating in the United States; one in Hanford, Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana.

"The projects that will be dedicated to Nation include Fission Molybdenum-99 Production Facility, Mumbai; Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Plant, Visakhapatnam; National Hadron Beam Therapy Facility, Navi Mumbai; Radiological Research Unit, Navi Mumbai; Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Visakhapatnam; and Women & Children Cancer Hospital Building, Navi Mumbai" it said.