The Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) has donated ₹10 crore for development works in Government Wenlock Hospital and ₹5.43 crore for building U.R. Rao Apace and Astronomy Gallery in Pilikula Nisargadhama.

The letters of intent was given by MRPL Managing Director M. Shyamprasad Kamath and MRPL Group General Manager (HR) Krishna Hegde to Member of Parliament Capt. Brijesh Chowta.

Superintendent of Wenlock Hospital D.S. Shivaprakash said that ₹10 crore will be used to set up a 55-bed and a 22-bed surgical ward respectively on the 4th and 5th floors of hospital’s Medicine Block building. The Central Sterile Supply Department will also be set up on the 4th floor. A 35-bed dialysis ward is being set up on the fourth floor of the block using ₹45 lakh donated earlier by MRPL.

K.V. Rao, Director of Pilikula Regional Science Centre, said ₹5.43 crore will be used to build the Space and Astronomy gallery in the name of former ISRO Chairman U.R. Rao, who hails from Udupi district. The gallery will come up on about 600 square meters of space in front of the Swami Vivekananda Planetarium. There will also be outdoor models of space. This gallery is being set up to get the youth acquainted with space technology.