<P> In 1954, Homi jehangir Bhabha steered the nuclear programme in the direction of weapons design and production . Two important infrastructure projects were commissioned . The first established Trombay Atomic Energy Establishment at Mumbai (Bombay). The other created a governmental secretariat, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), of which Bhabha was the first secretary . From 1954 to 1959, the nuclear programme grew swiftly . By 1958, the DAE had one - third of the defence budget for research purposes . In 1954, India reached a verbal understanding with Canada and the United States under the Atoms for Peace programme; Canada and the United States ultimately agreed to provide and establish the CIRUS research reactor also at Trombay . The acquisition of CIRUS was a watershed event in nuclear proliferation with the understanding between India and the United States that the reactor would be used for peaceful purposes only . CIRUS was an ideal facility to develop a plutonium device, and therefore Nehru refused to accept nuclear fuel from Canada and started the programme to develop an indigenous nuclear fuel cycle . </P> <P> In July 1958, Nehru authorised "Project Phoenix" to build a reprocessing plant with a capacity of 20 tons of fuel a year--a size to match the production capacity of CIRUS . The plant used the PUREX process and was designed by the American firm Vitro International . Construction of the plutonium plant began at Trombay on 27 March 1961, and it was commissioned in mid-1964 . </P> <P> The nuclear programme continued to mature, and by 1960, Nehru made the critical decision to move the programme into production . At about the same time, Nehru held discussions with the American firm Westinghouse Electric to construct India's first nuclear power plant in Tarapur, Maharashtra . Kenneth Nichols, a US Army engineer, recalls from a meeting with Nehru, "it was that time when Nehru turned to Bhabha and asked Bhabha for the timeline of the development of a nuclear weapon". Bhabha estimated he would need about a year to accomplish the task . </P> <P> By 1962, the nuclear programme was still developing, but at a slow rate . Nehru was distracted by the Sino - Indian War, during which India lost territory to China . Nehru turned to the Soviet Union for help, but the Soviet Union was preoccupied with the Cuban Missile Crisis . The Soviet Politburo turned down Nehru's request for arms and continued backing the Chinese . India concluded that the Soviet Union was an unreliable ally, and this conclusion strengthened India's determination to create a nuclear deterrent . Design work began in 1965 under Bhabha and proceeded under Raja Ramanna who took over the programme after the former's death . </P>

Who was india's president when first nuclear test held