SME Times News Bureau | 10 Mar, 2020
Prof. K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government
of India, while addressing at a forum, organized jointly by his office,
Department of Public Enterprises and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
stated that there are various levels of R&D for conventional research,
futuristic research, research for addressing new problems and research for
addressing unknown problems.
He further mentioned that R&D is not only influenced by
the quantum of investment, but also by the quality. PSA further mentioned that
the Technology Group, constitution of which has been recently announced by the
Govt. of India will primarily have three roles - policy, procurement and
R&D. He also mentioned that this group shall function to ensure and help
the PSUs to be successful.
The Technology Group shall have the Secretaries from Space,
Atomic Energy, Defence, IT, MeiTY and DST and secretaries of other departments
would be invited depending on the subject being dealt.
The Technology Group shall also have a 20-member Advisory
Panel - 10 from the industry and 10 from academia. Thus the Technology Group
shoul provide an extraordinary opportunity for all the stakeholders to
collaborate for social good and global competitiveness.
Sailesh, Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, Government of India
mentioned that while CPSEs play a dominant role in our economy, it is important
that CPSEs diversify into new areas. He stated that R&D is an essential
activity and growth follows when investments in R&D is stepped up. He
further highlighted that CPSEs must innovate, produce and expand their presence
in India and abroad.
In his address, Mr Rajesh K Chaudhry, Additional Secretary, Department of
Public Enterprises, Government of India stated that India must reposition
itself from being the net consumer of R&D to net producer of R&D.
Globally, 10-12 countries are primarily contributing to the major share of
R&D and there is a need to enhance India’s commitment to R&D.
While sharing the detailed statistical data of R&D in
CPSEs, he emphasized that they must increase R&D expenditure and also
promote and retain R&D talent, and that government shall provide full
support for the same.
With India aspiring to be the $ 5 trillion economy, Arabinda Mitra , Scientific
Secretary, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of
India highlighted that the present forum is topical, timely and important. He
emphasized that research and innovation have emerged as the most powerful
storehouse that is impacting the survival of enterprises worldwide.
He stated that the new models of synergistic partnerships
need to be evolved to bolster the innovation ecosystem and encourage PSE’s
enhanced investment in R&D. He also mentioned that the Office of the PSA has
launched City Knowledge and Innovation Clusters as powerful tool for R&D
collaborations.
Mita Karajagi, Senior Director, C- DAC, Pune mentioned that collaboration among
various institutions is of prime importance to take the innovations and technologies
to market. She further mentioned that CDAC has been working on diverse
applications including futuristic technologies, oil applications, genomics/
drug discovery, disaster management, missile technologies etc.
In his Opening Remarks, Mr B N Satpathy, Senior Consultant, Office of Principal
Scientific Advisor to Government of India stated that CPSEs have played an
important role in catalyzing the economic growth of India.
As the major driving force behind the country’s rapid
industrialization in the post-independence period, CPSEs have richly
contributed to India’s technological prowess. They also have been contributing
significantly to the overall R&D spend in the country.
Satpathy highlighted that the objective of the forum will be
to assess the R&D plan of select PSUs for the next two years, overview the
proposed R&D activities under the amended CSR guidelines and finalize a
strategy for scaling up of R&D investment by CPSEs.