Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri

Who was Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri?

Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri was an Indian physicist and academic, and a scientific advisor to the Government of India. He is known as one of the pioneers of nuclear physics in India and for building the nation's first cyclotron at the University of Calcutta.

In the early 1970s, as the Scientific Advisor to the Ministry of Defence and chair of the Cabinet Committee on Science and Technology, Nagchaudhuri played an influential role in Smiling Buddha, India's first nuclear test. He also initiated the first feasibility studies on India's ballistic missile program. Later, he also served as a member of the Planning Commission and as Vice Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University.