Historical Background

Due to the farsight, vision and commitment to Defence Science of late Sri V.K. Krishna Menon, the then Minister for Defence, pioneering activities in the field of gas turbine research and development were started in one corner of the No. 1 BRD, Air Force Station, Kanpur in 1959. The Gas Turbine Research Centre (GTRC) thus took its birth under the leadership of Wg Cdr S.N. Roy Chaudhury (Now AVM S.N. Roy Chaudhury, Retd.) with a modest group of eight engineers/scientists and about twenty technicians. This small team was responsible for the design and test running of the first centrifugal type gas turbine engine of 1000 Kg thrust, the funds for which came from the CSIR. The engine was test run in the test bed at Kanpur in April 1961. However, in Nov 1961 the GTRC moved to Bangalore, the City which was and continues to be the Centre of all Aeronautical activities. It was brought under the banner of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and was re-named as the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE).