Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology: from a small society in 1990 to a national institute taken over by the Union Government

Background

The Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), in Thiruvananthapuram, began in 1990 as a small charitable society called the Centre for Development of Education, Science and Technology (C-DEST).
In 1991 C-DEST became a Grant-in-Aid institute of the Government of Kerala and was renamed RGC-DEST, the first institute in the country to be named after Rajiv Gandhi.
On 18 April 1994 the Government of Kerala restructured it into a comprehensive biotechnology centre, the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology.
The foundation stone of the new building was laid on 18 November 1995 by the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao; on 18 November 2002 President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam dedicated the centre to the nation.
On 28 February 2006 Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced in the Union Budget that RGCB would be given the status of an autonomous National Institute.
On 2 August 2007 the Union Council of Ministers approved the take over of RGCB from 1 April 2007.