Industry unresponsive to Make in India: Harsh Vardhan

May 16, 2015 12:00 am | Updated May 23, 2016 06:50 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram:

Union Minister for Science and Technology andEarth Sciences Harsh Vardhan visiting a biofuelpilot plant at the CSIR-NIIST inThiruvananthapuram on Friday.

Union Minister for Science and Technology andEarth Sciences Harsh Vardhan visiting a biofuelpilot plant at the CSIR-NIIST inThiruvananthapuram on Friday.

Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan has blamed Indian industry for being unresponsive to the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Talking to the media during a visit to the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) here on Friday, he said, “Make in India is happening already in the institutions under the CSIR, Department of Science and Technology, and other wings of the Ministry. Our scientists are getting good recognition in many countries and there is no dearth of innovation in India but unfortunately Indian industry remains unresponsive to the need to convert our scientific and intellectual acumen into a movement for social good.”

Criticising the trend of domestic industry to turn to foreign technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan urged the private sector to think anew in its bid to become competitive in the global market. “Foreign players are never willing to fully part with their technology,” he said.

Collaboration

Pointing out that most of the scientific research in the country was in government-funded laboratories while 70 per cent of the manufacturing sector was in the private sector, he called for a meaningful collaboration between the two to translate the Make in India campaign into reality and ensure that the benefits of science and technology reached the people.

People’s problems

Science, he said, must connect to the people. “All scientific publications produced by institutions will be of no use unless they connect to the people.” Urging scientists to devise new methods and technology to address the unresolved problems in various sectors, he called on them to come out of the routine mode and be ready for a mission mode based on focussed activity.

Dr.Harsh Vardhan, who was taken around the various divisions at CSIR- NIIST, said the institution could benefit from collaboration with the private sector in commercialising the various technology processes and engineering products developed by scientists.

He expressed keen interest in the pilot plant for production of bio ethanol from agriculture waste and said the programme would be vital in the country’s efforts to attain self-reliance in the energy sector.

The Minister was accompanied by M.O. Garg, Director-General, CSIR, and Sudeep Kumar, Head, Planning and Performance Division, CSIR.

Later, he addressed scientists and students at the institute. NIIST Director Gangan Prathap, executive vice president, Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, Suresh Das, Ajayaghosh, and Ashok Pandey were present.

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