India has witnessed significant developments in the field of optics. An optics instrument center, Mathematical Instruments Office that was established in India in 1836 has incorporated military optical instruments. Postgraduate education in applied and modern optics started in 1953 at the University of Calcutta, Kolkata, followed by the physics department of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, in 1965. Laser Technology Center, the National Physical Laboratory and IIT Delhi have been started in India to promote the researches in the area of optics. India has three centers about 200 km northeast of Delhi at Dehradun that includes Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Ordnance Factory and Optoelectronics Factory under the Ministry of Defense to encourage developments in optics. Several institutes at Kolkata carry out optics research and development, including the department of applied optics and photonics at the University of Calcutta, the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute and the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.