India is the emerging High Technology Hub: Kapil Sibal

Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science & Technology and Ocean Development along with a FICCI biotech delegation, was in New York on 4-5 April, 2006. Addressing business leaders in the meetings hosted for him and the FICCI business delegation by the Counsel General of India, BCIU and USIBC, he talked of the significant expansion in Indo-US relations both in content, scope and depth starting with the visit of Dr Manmohan Singh to the US and culminating with the visit of the US President to India in March 2006.

Shri Sibal emphasized on the role of high technology as one of the key elements of Indo-US partnership. While explaining the steps the Government has initiated in creating a new dynamism within the technology led sectors in India, he emphasized upon the need for adapting technology to the Indian needs which would offer products of higher quality and affordable prices. The Minister urged US Investors to seriously look into this aspect and assured them of vast opportunities that such innovation would provide in India. He highlighted the opportunity that existed in the field of pharma and bio technology, agriculture, food processing, alternate sources of energy, health sector including medical devices, clean technologies etc. besides infrastructure and power sectors.

Explaining the rising needs of oil for meeting the energy needs around the world, as well as in India, Shri Sibal strongly justified the need for India to look at nuclear energy, as a very important component of its energy needs. He explained the criticality of the agreements that the two governments have reached and urged that this aspect be reviewed in its totality.

Shri Sibal also touched upon the increasing confidence of the MNCs in setting up R&D Centres in India with a new trend on designing of embedded software. He was confident that this would lead to India becoming a hub for high technology manufacturing.

Shri Sibal explained the various steps initiated for improving the standards of higher education within the country, which should lead to better quality manpower essential for the needs of the high tech sectors. He talked of the steps taken to create more centres of excellence and the increasing collaborations with the Universities in the US.

Source : Press Information Bureau
Date : April 07, 2006