DEVELOPMENT
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"Is it possible to do world class science in India?" was till recently an oft debated question in the scientific community in India. Not any more. As India emerges as a globally competitive powerhouse, science and technology continue to provide the foundation on which the 21st century nation is being built.
INNOVATION
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Global market leaders have begun to recognise India's potential in being a flagholder in innovation. Innovative products, innovative processes and innovative manufacturing methods are enticing foreign investors and multinationals.
The Daimler-Chrysler research centre in India is one of three centres the company has outside Germany. In the office at Bangalore, India, engineers are involved with research in avionics, simulation and software development. The company sources components from the Indian plant for its markets in Europe and the US.
Hewlett-Packard's (HP) research centre in Bangalore has developed a product called Script Mail -- a device targeted at people who speak languages that can't be typed on a standard keyboard.
With innovations in the driving seat, entrepreneurship in India has witnessed a continued surge in the knowledge based industries which in turn has contributed to economic growth.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
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Over the past few years, more than 100 MNCs have set up R&D centres in India at a cumulative investment of over US$ 1 billion in the areas of life sciences (biotechnology and pharmaceuticals), engineering, telecom-related areas like VLSI (very large scale integration chips), and embedded technologies.
The list of multinationals setting up R&D centres in India includes General Electric, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Intel, General Motors, Astra Zeneca, Motorola and Texas Instruments. GE does research in Bangalore on aircraft engines and turbine components. This is GE's second largest research centre in the world. GE's plans to raise R&D staff from 1,600 to 2,400 technicians hinge on attracting several Indian scientists who are coming back to India to join multinational R&D centres here.
The best-known Indian R&D companies are in pharmaceuticals, such as Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy's Labs and Sun Pharma. In the field of Biotechnology, Biocon and Shanta Biotech are leading the way, while Reliance Life Sciences is recognised by the US National Institutes of Health for stem cell research.
A new area of growth is contract R&D, in which a number of smaller firms such as Divi's Labs, Vimta Labs and Matrix Labs handle R&D work for global corporations. Syngene, a subsidiary of Biocon has Novartis as its customer. Larger pharmaceutical companies like Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy's are actively involved in contract research and manufacturing (CRAM) for global drug companies.
SCIENTIFIC TALENT
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Scientific and technological talent from India has been breaking many new frontiers. A study done by students at the Duke University, US, corroborates this fact. It says that Indian emigres to the United States started more engineering and technology companies between 1995 and 2005 than their counterparts in the UK, China, Taiwan and Japan put together.
India has the third largest scientific and technical manpower in the world; 162 universities award 4,000 doctorates and 35,000 postgraduate degrees and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research runs 40 research laboratories that have made some significant achievements. In the field of Missile Launch Technology, India is among the top five nations of the world.
With a view to attract and motivate students to take up science education and research, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has announced 10,000 scholarships for standard XII students across the country interested in pursuing a five-year integrated Masters in Science (M.Sc) programme.
SCIENCE AS AN INSTRUMENT TO GROWTH
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Science and technology in India is used as an effective instrument for growth and change. It is being brought into the mainstream of economic planning in the sectors of agriculture, industry and services.
The country's resources are used to derive the maximum output for the benefit of society and improvement in the quality of life.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
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India is today recognised as one of the countries most advanced in nuclear technology including production of source materials. The prime objective of India's nuclear energy programme is the development and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes such as power generation, applications in agriculture, medicine, industry, research and other areas.
The country is self-reliant and has gained expertise in the complete nuclear cycle - from exploration and mining to power generation and waste management.
As part of its programme of peaceful uses of atomic energy, India has also embarked on a programme of nuclear power generation. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) is now operating 14 reactors with a total capacity of 2,720 MWe and the eight reactors it is now building will increase its power production another 5,600 MWe. There are also two test reactors with the first domestic fast breeder reactor anticipated to start production next year.
The nation has already begun designing its next generation of fast breeder reactors and plans to build 12 new reactors for nuclear power over the next two years.
SPACE PROGRAMME
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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), under the Department of Space (DOS), is responsible for research, development and operationalisation of space systems in the areas of satellite communications, remote sensing for resource survey, environmental monitoring, meteorological services, etc. DOS is also the nodal agency for the Physical Research Laboratory, which conducts research in the areas of space science, and the National Remote Sensing Agency, which deploys modern remote-sensing techniques for natural resource surveys and provides operational services to user agencies. India is the only Third World Country to develop its own remote-sensing satellite.
The Indian achievement in the application of space-based remote sensing technology has led a US company to enter into an agreement for marketing the data from Indian satellites globally.
India's progress in space technology has attracted worldwide attention and demand, with leasing agreements for marketing of IRS data and supply of space hardware and services. India also believes in co-operation in space with agencies all over the world. A high-level UN team selected India for setting up a UN Centre for Space Science and Technology Education.
Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), has proved to be a rival of France and the US in the global market for space images. It sellsimages gathered by ISRO's five satellites. The images are shot by cameras on ISRO's TES (Technological Experiment Satellite), which is a state of the art eye in the sky. It provides images with a resolution as high as 1 metre. This means that it can actually pick up an umbrella from up there in space. Antrix will earn US$ 93.58 million in 2006-07 through launching satellites for other countries and selling space products.
Antrix's clientele includes the European Commission (for agriculture and forestry), Japan (volcanic activity), US (telephone network mapping, rail alignments, Wal-Mart, airlines) and Thailand (information). Its images are distributed by Space Imaging Inc and Euromap.
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