New Delhi : India will modernize its research station and summer camps at Antarctica and enhance its fleet of special vehicles in the icy continent, Minister for Science and Technology and Ocean Development Kapil Sibal announced here last week.

The minister on Feb. 3 inaugurated a new platform built to provide logistical support to Maitri, the second permanent research station established by India at the Schimacher ranges in Antarctica in 1989, an official statement said.

Sibal directed Rajesh Asthana of the Geological Survey of India and leader of the 24th Indian Antarctica Expedition to prepare the modernization plan for both the Maitri station and the summer camps, the statement said.The modernization will see an increase in the fleet of piston bully vehicles used to travel on the ice, it said.

Sibal last week led a high-level delegation to Antarctica on a three-day visit to take stock of various operational and scientific activities and to evolve a plan for strengthening India’s Antarctica Program.