The scientific drilling and measurements is being carried out by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, India with ICDP collaboration. The rig and associated equipments are in place and are being tested prior to spudding. Air hammer drilling will be employed, with the option to switch to mud rotary while coring. The borehole is designed to be vertical, with overall deviation planned within 3 degrees. After spudding and drilling through the overburden, 20" conductor casing will be piled. The well configuration is shown in Figure 2. The first phase of drilling up to 500 m is likely to be completed by the end of the year. The second phase of drilling up to 1500 m depth followed by geophysical logging is likely to be completed by mid-January 2017. We hope to reach the base of the basalt between 1200 and 1300 m depth. This will be followed by granite-gneiss basement rock. The OLGA fluid-gas measuring equipment will be commissioned and tested. The final phase of drilling, i.e., 1500-3000 m will involve intermittent coring, sampling for fluid/gas and geomicrobiology. This phase may be completed by March 2017. After completion, a full suite of downhole geophysical logging will be run. (Sukanta Roy)