Lok Sabha Question No. 1139 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-28
Subject: Science and Technology Infrastructure
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: D.K. Suresh

## 1139. SHRI D.K. SURESH:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY वान और ौयोगक मंी be  pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to strengthen and develop the science and technology infrastructure in major sectors;
- (b) if so, the details in this regard;
- (c) whether there is any system to encourage the scientists, technology experts and other specialized institutions in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government is providing any assistance to or coordinating with the foreign institutions having the said expertise; and
- (e) if so, the details in this regard?

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1139 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28/6/2019

## SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE

## ANSWER

## Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey

वाय और परवार कयाण मंालय म राय मंी

## ी अिवनी कु मार चौबे

- (a) Yes,  Sir.  The  Government  proposes  to  strengthen  and  develop  the  science  and  technology  infrastructure  in major sectors.
- (b)  &  (c):  The  Government  already  has  successful  schemes  in  operation  to  strengthen  and  develop  the  science  and technology infrastructure of R&D Institutions in major sectors. The schemes such as Fund for Improvement of S& T infrastructures  in  Universities  and  Higher  Educational  institutions  (FIST),  Promotion  of  University  Research  and Scientific Excellence (PURSE), Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facility (SAIF) of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The FIST Program enables the University and Academic sectors to perform cutting edge competitive research  activities  and  establish  modern  teaching  facilities.  So  far,  nearly  2820  S&T  Departments  of  Universities/ Institutes including over 460 PG colleges have been supported with a total investment of about Rs. 2850 crores. The DST PURSE scheme  was  initiated  with  the  purpose  of  creating  and  fostering  the  research  ecosystem  among  performing universities in the country by enhancing their research capacity through augmentation of their research infrastructure. So far, over Rs. 800 crores has been invested on 50 premier Universities under this Program. The DST SAIF program provides the facilities of sophisticated analytical instrument to researchers especially from such institutions which do not have state-of-the-art instruments to purse contemporary R&D activities and keep pace with development taking place globally. Currently, 15 SAIF Centres are operating in the currently. These facilities have been utilised by over 19, 000 researchers, over 1, 10,000 samples have been analysed facilitating over 2000 Publications per year. To build a shared, professionally  managed,  and  strong  Science  and  Technology  infrastructure  which  is  readily  accessible  to  academia, start-ups, manufacturing, industry and R&D labs, DST is in the process of setting up four Sophisticated Analytical & Technical Help Institutes (SATHI), at a total cost of Rs. 375 crores. These will house major analytical instruments to provide common services of high-end analytical testing thus avoiding duplication and reduced dependency on foreign sources. These would be operated with a transparent, open access policy.

Under the DST Nano Mission, one of the umbrella programme to promote R&D in this emerging and active area of research, adequate support towards infrastructure development for Nano Science & Technology Research has been provided. The DST National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) initiative involves works with various Central and

State  Government  Agencies  for  setting  up  the  infrastructure  with  the  objectives  of  facilitating  access,  search  and discovery of spatial data acquired by various agencies; providing a single window access mechanism for all spatial data sets in the country; and creating awareness about its benefits amongst its stakeholders. The DST Mega Science Program is aimed to create Mega Science facilities and launch Mega Science projects in and out of the country to improve access to  such  state-of-the-art facilities  for the  Indian  scientific  community,  especially from  the  academic  sector.  Because of technical complexities and requirement of large resources, such projects are manifestly multi-agency, multi-institutional and, most often, international in character. The DST and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) have been jointly promoting  most  of  such  projects  in  the  country.  Under  DST  engagement  with  the  Global  S&T  Platforms  DST  also contributed to Worldwide Development of Research Infrastructures and participated in the 11th meeting of the Group of  Senior  on  the  development  on  Global  Research  Infrastructures  (GSOGRI),  hosted  by  the  National  Science Foundation, USA. It was decided to include 'Laser Interferometric Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) having a node in India, as a future case study of Global Research Infrastructures. 5 Technical Research Centres (TRCs) were established in 5 DST institutions viz. Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Trivandrum; International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad; Jawaharlal  Nehru  Centre  for  Advanced  Scientific  Research  (JNCASR),  Bengaluru;  Indian  Association  for  the Cultivation  of  Science  (IACS),  Kolkata;  and  S.N.  Bose  National  Centre  for  Basic  Sciences,  Kolkata.  Under  the  DST Clean Energy Research Initiative (CERI) the Government is establishing R&D centres in the areas such as Smart Grids (2 No.), Clean Coal (2 No.), Solar Energy (2 No.), Energy Storages (4 No.) and Water Technology (7 No.) to strengthen and  develop  the  science  and  technology  infrastructure.  The  Department  of  Biotechnology  (DBT)  has  announced  the Access of its Research Resources and Facilities supported across the country, by way of Scientific Infrastructure Access for Harnessing Academia University Research Joint Collaboration (SAHAJ). Each DBT Autonomous Institute and DBT supported  Infrastructure  programme  makes  available  its  high  end  equipments  and  infrastructure  to  Research Institutes, Universities, colleges and start-ups / entrepreneurs. The Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India provides funds to promote research in applied  geosciences,  mineral  exploration,  mining  and  allied  areas,  mineral  processing,  optimum utilization and conservation of the mineral resources of the country, for the benefit of the nation and its people under Science and Technology Programme Scheme of Ministry of Mines. The Ministry of Human Resources has established seven Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISERs) declared as the Institutes of National Importance (INI) under the National Institutes Technology Science Education and Research (NITSER) Act, 2007, as amended from time to time. Besides, the MHRD have also been continuously supporting the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, a premier Institute of higher learning and research. The MHRD has supported these Institutes towards providing and maintaining world class infrastructure in science and technology to promote both higher learning as well as advanced research in frontier areas of S&T using cutting edge technologies.

- (d) Yes, Sir.
- (e) The Government is providing assistance to co-ordinate with the foreign institutions by establishing bilateral and multilateral  programmes in the areas such as Smart Grids, Offgrids, Clean Energy Materials, Renewable and Clean Hydrogen  and  also  in  Water  Technologies  under  the  aegis  of  Mission  Innovation,  which  is  a  global  platform  of  25 countries to accelerate innovations in these domains. Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) - a not-for-profit body of 550 Industries,  Governments;  Academia;  and  Non-Governmental  Organisations  is  developing  Open  Standards  useful  in establishment  of  NSDI  for  interoperable  sharing  of  spatial  data  sets  amongst  the  stakeholders.  Inter-governmental Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation were signed with several countries. The DST and the National Technological Innovation Authority of Israel have jointly established a US$ 40m 'India-Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4 Fund)' for a period of five years to support joint R&D projects aimed to co-develop innovative technology-driven products, services or processes that have potential for commercialization.  Several  Bilateral  meetings  were  held  to  foster  the  research  areas  in  the  field  of  Clean  Energy, Sustainable  Agriculture,  Renewable  Energy,  Metallurgy,  Physics  &  ICT.  Establishment  of  Indo-Korean  Center  for Research and Innovation (IKCRI) and Indo-Mexico Centre in areas of energy, water, food security and air quality was agreed to from respective countries. Under Mission Innovation programme, meetings were held with Swedish Minister for  Innovation  and  Enterprise,  Governor  of  Skåne,  Director  of  Brazilian  Innovation  Agency  (FINEP),  Minister  for Science  and  ICT  of  the  Republic  of  Korea,  Deputy  Prime  Minister  of  Uzbekistan,  Mexico's  Ambassador  to  India  to identify  potential  areas  of  interest  in  domains  covering  clean  transport,  clean  energy,  smart  grids,  smart  industry & advanced  manufacturing,  medical  sciences,  circular  and  bio-based  economy.  The  initiatives  undertaken  by  the  DBT included  acquisition  and  maintenance  of  synchrotron  X-ray  beamline  (BM14)  in  partnership  with  Medical  Research Council  (MRC),  The  European  Molecular  Biology  Laboratory  (EMBL)  and  The  European  Synchrotron  Radiation Facility  (ESRF).  This  resource  has  been  of  tremendous  utility  to  the  macromolecular  crystallography  community  in India and will have critical impact on the biotechnology research in the country.

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