The state aims to get third time lucky in its push to construct a "world class" science city.

To be named after former President APJ Abdul Kalam, the cabinet last Tuesday cleared the funds allotment for the project. Sources in science and technology department said it was the third time the cabinet cleared the "Science City".

First, in July 2012, it approved the construction on 15 acres of land at Rajendra Nagar; but the actual land required was a minimum of 25 acres of land. So, the project went into cold storage. The second time, the cabinet increased the land allotment to 20.48 acres. Finally, in the third sitting on the project, the cabinet allotted Rs 397 crore for the 20.48-acre Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Science City.

The proposed science city, a dream project of chief minister Nitish Kumar, is now expected to have a state-of-the-art building of international standards. It will be constructed between Premchand Rangshala and Moin-ul-Haq Stadium for which the Centre will bear Rs 98 crore of the cost.

"The 'Science City' is a huge project and requires huge land, so the (first) allotment of 15 acres was not adequate and the project got stuck midway," said an official in the science and technology department. "Also, according to the Union government's policy, the Centre could provide financial and technical assistance for setting up a science city on an area not less than 25 acres. It was a herculean task to get the Centre's approval on a smaller land. We plead that the science city was coming up in Patna, in the heart of the city, so there were limitations to finding a bigger plot of land to construct it."

Apart from the Rs 98 crore to be borne by the central government, a corpus of Rs 88 crore will be created to meet the running cost of the science city.

"As now the state cabinet has approved funds and also the land issue has been settled, construction of the science city will start soon," said science and technology director (technical) Atul Sinha. "The tentative date for the project's completion is end 2019.

"The science city will have six to seven sections with features of their own (see chart). There will be sections on basic science,body and mind, President Kalam and his work, space and others."

The science city will have capacity of 10 lakh visitors per annum. It will have three halls with a seating capacity of 500, 200 and 100, respectively, and a big dormitory. As it will cater to the needs of students, especially schoolchildren and students coming to Patna from other districts on excursion, there will be a few 100-bed hostels on the premises.

Welcoming the government's decision, Class VIII student Sushma Kumari from Samastipur said: "A bigger science city of international standards will be informative and prove to be a knowledge centre for students who are interested in science subjects."

The "Science City" project was conceptualised in 2012 with the objective of promoting and popularising science among the people. Canada-based Lord Cultural Resources had prepared the master plan.

The science and technology department has now invited tenders for architecture and exhibit design. The last date to submit tenders is June 4, followed by which the architecture and exhibit designer would be selected.