Prof. Brahmachari spells out Agenda for Fillip to in-House R&D in Industry 9 Companies Receive DSIR National Awards

Prof. Samir Brahmachari, the newly appointed Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) today spelt out a three-fold agenda to give a fillip to in-house R&D in industry and position India's innovation efforts in the international arena.

Inaugurating the 21st National Conference on In-House R&D in Industry with the theme "R&D Innovations for Indian Growth Dynamics", organized jointly by DSIR and FICCI, Prof Brahmachari stressed the need to be aggressive in the pursuit of innovations by earmarking 25% of total private sector and government investment in long-term R&D, not with an eye on the immediate gains but for returns in the future. He said such efforts need to be combined with operational expenses of the private sector and the capital expenditure of the government to connect the vast army of young scientists with national R&D efforts.

Earlier, the DSIR National R&D Awards (2007) were given away to nine companies in various spheres of research by Prof. Samir Brahmachari; Dr. T Ramasami, Secretary, DST; and Mr. Y K Modi, Past President, FICCI.

The areas of research and the award winning companies are: Chemical and Allied Industries - Laila Impex, Vijayawada ( A.P); Agro & Food Processing Industries - Pest control (India) Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore; Pollution Control & Environmental Protection United Phosphorous Ltd, Vapi (Gujarat); Mechanical Engineering Industries - Minda Industries Ltd, Gurgaon; Electrical Industries - Crompton Greaves Ltd, Mumbai; Electronics/Opto Electronics Industries - Ananth Technologies Ltd, Hyderabad; Computer Software - Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd, Bangalore; Technology Absorption of Imported Technologies - Reliance Industries Ltd, Surat; and Successful Commercialization of Technologies acquired from others - Tata Steel Ltd, Jamshedpur.

Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, DST, in his address emphasized on the importance of R&D and the close relationship between R&D and overall growth. He said that with competition increasing at a rapid pace, it is important that the companies plan the dynamics of growth in a very structured manner. Observing that after a long time we are coming out of the developing country mindset of having limited resources, Dr. Ramasami expressed hope that the speed, scope and scale of innovation in the country would increase over a period.

Mr. Y K Modi, Past President, FICCI and Chairman, YKM Holdings, in his welcome address mentioned that today the world is globalising at a rapid pace and this is creating uncertainties for the businesses. He added that in this highly uncertain future, winners would be eventually those who willingly challenge themselves in unprecedented ways to create unique technologies with benefit to the masses.

Source : Press Information Bureau
Date : November 15, 2007