In 1979, the Department of Atomic Energy appointed a committee to recommend a comprehensive programme on accelerators including accelerator facilities to be built in India during next 20 years. Among other recommendations, the committee recommended establishment of a Synchrotron Radiation facility. Accordingly, synchrotron radiation sources Indus-1 and Indus-2 are being built at RRCAT.

Indus-1 is a 450 MeV synchrotron radiation source with a critical wavelength of 61 angstroms. It was commissioned in June 1999. Indus-2 will be a synchrotron radiation source of nominal electron energy of 2.5 GeV and a critical wavelength of about 4 angstroms. The foundation stone of the building housing Indus-2 was laid by the President of India, Dr.S.D.Sharma on June 28, 1997.

Both Indus-1 and Indus-2 are national facilities accessible to all researchers from national laboratories, academic institutions and Industries in India. With the comissioning of both these facilities, Indian scientists will have powerful sources of photons with wavelengths in the visible, vacuum ultraviolet, soft x-rays, and hard x-rays.