Lok Sabha Question No. 291 (STARRED), answered on 2019-07-12
Subject: Use of Science and Technology
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Ashok Mahadeorao Nete

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.291 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12/7/2019

## USE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

## †*291.  SHRI ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE:

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

- (a) the details of the areas/sectors identified by the Government for wider use of science and technology for the development of the country;
- (b) whether the Government has provided a special package to some sectors for development of science and technology; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof, State/UTwise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE; MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; AND MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

वाय और परवार कयाण मंी ; वान और ौयोगक मंी ; और पृ वी वान मंी डॉ . हष वधन

(a) to (c):  A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT AS REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.291 ON 12/7/2019 REGARDING USE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

(a) The Science and Technology (S&T) are key drivers to development, because technological and scientific revolutions  underpin  economic  advances,  improvements  in  health  systems,  education,  infrastructure,  etc.  The technological revolutions of the 21 st century are emerging from entirely new sectors, based on bio-technology, nano-technology, interdisciplinary cyber-physical system, and information and communication Technology.

The Government has identified several areas/ sectors for wider use of science and technology for the development of  the  country.  In  'Technology  Vision  2035'  document,  which  was  unveiled  during  103 rd Indian Science  Congress  on  3 rd January  2016,  12  sectors  were  identified.  These  include;  (i)  Education,  (ii)  Medical Sciences  &  Healthcare  (iii)  Food  and  Agriculture  (iv)  Water  (v)  Energy  (vi)    Environment  (vii)  Habitat  (viii) Transportation, (ix) Infrastructure, (x) Manufacturing (xi) Materials and (xii) Information and Communication Technology.

As  per  the  recommendations  of  the  Prime  Minister's  Science,  Technology  and  Innovation  Advisory Council (PM-STIAC), nine S&T missions have been taken up for implementation by the relevant Ministries / Departments. These include (1) Natural Language Translation (2)   Electric Vehicles (3) Artificial Intelligence (4) National Biodiversity Mission (5) Quantum Frontier (6) BioScience for human Health (7) Waste to Wealth (8) Deep Ocean Exploration, and (9) Accelerating Growth of New India's Innovations

The Union Cabinet has recently approved the launching of National Mission on Interdisciplinary CyberPhysical Systems (NM-ICPS) at a total outlay of Rs. 3660 crore for a period of five years. The NM-ICPS which is a  Pan  India  Mission  and  covers  entire  gamut  of  India  that  includes  Central  Ministries,  State  Governments, Industry and Academia, is being implemented by the Department of Science & Technology. The Cyber Physical Systems  and  its  associated  technologies,  like  Artificial  Intelligence  (Al),  Internet  of  Things  (loT),  Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DP), Big Data Analytics, Robotics,  Quantum  Computing,  Quantum Communication,  Quantum  encryption,  Data  Science  &  Predictive  analytics,  Cyber  Security  for  physical infrastructure and other infrastructure, have pervaded and is playing a transformative role in almost every field of  human endeavour in all most in all sectors. It has become imperative for government and industries to be prepared  to  adopt  these  emerging  and  disruptive  technologies  in  order  to  remain  competitive,  drive  societal progress,  generate  employment,  foster  economic  growth  and  to  improve  the  overall  quality  of  life  and sustainability  of  the  environment.  The  Mission  would  act  as  an  engine  of  growth  that  would  benefit  national initiatives in health, education, energy, environment, agriculture, strategic cum security, and industrial sectors, Industry 4.0, SMART Cities, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) etc. The Mission is expected to enhance job opportunities  by  imparting  advanced  skills  and  generating  skilled  manpower  as  per  the  requirement  of  the industry/ society.

Apart from the above, the Government has identified some of the thrust areas such as Smart Grids, Offgrids,  Building  Energy  Efficiency,  clean  fuel  and  energy,  Clean  Coal  Technologies,  etc.  A  number  of  water technology initiatives have been initiated for providing safe drinking water at affordable cost. A number of new schemes  have  been  launched  including  Advanced  Manufacturing  Technologies  (AMT),  Waste  Management Technologies  (WMT),  Bio-Medical  Devices  and  Technology  Development  (BDTD),  Science  and  Heritage Research  Initiative  etc.  The  Government  is  promoting  innovations  and  start-up  activities  in  a  big  way.  An initiative  'National  Initiative  for  Developing  and  Harnessing  Innovations  (NIDHI)'  which  is  an  umbrella program covering all the links in the innovation chain from scouting to mentoring to prototyping to fellowship to seed support to industry connect to new incubators has been launched.

The  Department  of  Biotechnology  (DBT)  has  initiated  several  region-specific  programs  for  holistic biotech  based  development.  The  major  areas  identified  by  biotech  based  development    include  (i)  Human Resource Development (ii) Agriculture & Animal Sciences  (iii) Medical Biotechnology (iv) Energy, Environment & Bioresource based Applications  (v) Knowledge Generation, Discovery Research, New Tools & Technologies. In order to enhance and improve crop productivity, district-level Agro-advisory services for farmers have been implemented. Some major successes have been achieved in the area of health, hygiene and sanitation to fulfill the dream of Swasth Bharat.

Similarly,  the  Council  of  Scientific  and  Industrial  Research  (CSIR)  has  identified    (i)  Aerospace, Electronics,  and  Instrumentation  &  Strategic  Sectors;  (ii)  Civil  Infrastructure  &  Engineering;  (iii)  Ecology, Environment, Earth & Ocean Sciences and Water (iv) Mining, Minerals, Metals and Materials; (v) Chemicals (including  leather)  and  Petrochemicals;  (vi)  Energy  (conventional  and  non-conventional)  and  Energy  devices; (vii)  Agri,  Nutrition  &  Biotech;  and  Healthcare  areas/sectors  for  wider  use  of  science  and  technology  for  the development of the country:

(b) No, Sir. The Government has not provided special package to any sector for the development of science and technology.

(c) Does not arise.

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