  India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a multi-institutional facility,
planned to be built up in South India. The INO facility will host a 51 kton
magnetized Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) detector to study atmospheric muon
neutrinos. Iron plates have been chosen as the target material whereas
Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) have been chosen as the active detector element
for the ICAL experiment. Due to the large number of RPCs needed ($\sim$ 28,000
of $2~m \times 2~m$ in size) for ICAL experiment and for the long lifetime of
the experiment, it is necessary to perform a detailed $R\&D$ such that each and
every parameter of the detector performance can be optimized to improve the
physics output. In this paper, we report on the detailed material and
electrical properties studies for various types of glass electrodes available
locally. We also report on the performance studies carried out on the RPCs made
with these electrodes as well as the effect of gas composition and
environmental temperature on the detector performance. We also lay emphasis on
the usage of materials for RPC electrodes and the suitable enviormental
conditions applicable for operating the RPC detector for optimal physics output
at INO-ICAL experiment.
