Lok Sabha Question No. 961 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-02
Subject: Technology Development in CSIR
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: ARJUN RAM  MEGHWAL

- (a)
- Yes, Madam.
- (b) The  Council  of  Scientific  and  Industrial  Research  (CSIR),  known  for  its cutting edge R&D knowledgebase in diverse S&T areas, is a contemporary R,  D  &  E  organization.  CSIR  covers  a  wide  spectrum  of  science  and technology  from  radio  and  space  physics,  oceanography,  geophysics, chemicals, drugs, genomics, biotechnology and nanotechnology to mining, aeronautics,  instrumentation,  environmental  engineering  and  information technology.    It  has  been  providing  significant  S&T  knowledgebase  and technological intervention  in  many  areas  needed  for  the  socio-economic development in the country.  Further, CSIR's role in S&T human resource development is noteworthy.

As a result of concerted R&D efforts, CSIR today is globally benchmarked organization. According to the Scimago Institutions Ranking World Report 2014, CSIR is ranked at 84th among 4851 institutions worldwide and is the

## DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.961 (TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.03.2016)

## TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN CSIR

## 961.  SHRI ARJUN MEGHWAL :

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether technology development activities are undertaken regularly in the different laboratories of CSIR;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government  has prepared any action plan to establish a coordination  among  the  research  technology  of  CSIR,  the  Start  up  India  and Make in India scheme announced by the Government; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES

(SHRI Y.S. CHOWDARY)

only Indian organization among the top 100 global institutions. CSIR holds the 17th rank in Asia and leads the country at the first position. CSIR  is  a  leader  in  terms  of  filing  and  securing  patents  worldwide, amongst its peers in publicly funded research organizations in the world. On an average CSIR files about 250 Indian patents and 250 foreign patents per  year.  The  number  of  patent applications  filed  by  CSIR  in  India  and abroad during the last four years is given below:

| Patent Applications Filed by CSIR   | Patent Applications Filed by CSIR   | Patent Applications Filed by CSIR   |
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|                                     | India                               | Abroad                              |
| 2011-2012                           | 197                                 | 290                                 |
| 2012-2013                           | 200                                 | 367                                 |
| 2013-2014                           | 266                                 | 342                                 |
| 2014-2015                           | 308                                 | 392                                 |

CSIR has been commercializing its innovations. In doing so, CSIR has been licensing technologies  and products  developed to industry. CSIR  is successful in achieving  13.33%  commercialization  of its patents in comparison to a global average of 3%.

CSIR  has  developed  technologies  for:food  and  food  processing;  water; healthcare;  building  and  construction;  environment  and  sanitation;  rural roads; cultivation  and processing  economic  plants;  farm  machinery; leather; glass, ceramics  and  pottery;  metals,  mining and  materials; aerospace; strategic sector etc. The CSIR has been continuously striving to  address  the  unmet  needs  through  its  unique  S&T  interventions.  The technologies  so  developed  have  been  gainfully  utilized  in  several  states across the country.Some recent achievements of the CSIR are provided in Annexure-1.

- (c)&(d)  The  Government  has  released  a  'Startup  India  Action  Plan'  on  16 th January,  2016.  Incubators  identified  can  verify  whether  a  Startup  is covered as specified in the definition. No specific role has been identified for CSIR.

*****

## Some  Recent  Achievements  of  the  Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

-  CSIR has made great headway in developing niche aerospace technologies. CSIR and the India  Meteorological  Department  (IMD)  are  jointly  producing the Drishti system, a visibility measuring system that provides information to  pilots  on  visibility  for  safe  landing  and  take-off  operations,  so  as  to enable  the  deployment  of  70  such  systems  at  Indian  airports.  About  23 systems have already been installed in 6 major Indian airports. CSIR-NAL has received the 'Make in India Excellence Award 2015' for Drishti under R & D category.
-  DHVANI -Detection and Hit Visualization using Acoustic N-wave Identification system has been developed by CSIR for perfecting marksmanship skills by accurately determining the location of bullet impact and providing real-time feedback. After rigorous field trials at Army ranges in Bengaluru, Secunderabad, and Infantry School Mhow, the well validated training system has been approved for induction into the Indian Army.
-  CSIR  through  its  New  Millennium  Indian  Technology  Leadership  Initiative (CSIR-NMITLI)  has  been  successful  in  developing  a  reflectance  confocal microscope with supercontinuum light source. The development has paved way for India's presence in global photonics research. This is a World Class 'Made in India' High-end Product.
-  CSIR  based  on  substantial  experimental  and simulation studies with feedstock provided by M/s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and demonstrated that US grade gasoline and pure benzene can be simultaneously produced from a FCC C6 heart cut stream using extractive distillation (ED) route with aqueous NMP as the solvent. The gasoline thus produced has sulphur content <10ppm and benzene <0.3%. The technology has been transferred to RIL for commercialization.
-  A novel technology for recovery of Sulphate of Potash (SOP) from bittern has been developed by CSIR and transferred to industries. The SOP is a premium fertilizer  with  highest  nutrient  value  of  ~68%.  Presently  entire  potash demand  is  met  through  imports.  The  commercialization  of  the  indigenous technology would make our country self-sufficient in sulphate of potash.
-  As  part  of  efforts  towards  developing  sustainable  energy  solutions,  CSIR under the CSIR-NMITLI, has successfully developed indigenous know-how to

make technology components and the process for building Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) multi-cell stack of desired power output. CSIR has  earlier  developed  stack-to-system  level  and is  now  scaling-up  the system  power  produced  to  3.5  kW  and  validating  it  for  a  commercial application such as telecom tower power backup. For this, a modular test bed has been designed, built and commissioned with in-house knowhow at Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Patalganga site. The fuel cell facility commissioned now, is expected to provide plenty of useful data for testing and developing indigenous fuel cells at low costs for commercial applications.

-  Plastics consumption in India is reported to be around ~10 MMT (2010) while plastic  wastes  in  India  are  ~15,000  TPD  amounting  to  high  environmental pollution. As a potential solution to address the growing menace of plastic usage  and  the  associated  waste  generation  in  the  country,  CSIR  has developed a facile process for the conversion of waste plastics (polyolefins) to  value  added  hydrocarbons  e.g.  gasoline,  diesel  and  aromatics.  The process is simple, pollution free and environment friendly.
-  Application  of  biofuels  for  aviation  is  an  effective  means  for  the  aviation industry  to  reduce  its  carbon  footprint.  CSIR  has  developed  a  process  as well as a catalyst to produce jet fuel based on biomass-derived non-edible oils  such  as  jatropha  oil.  The  bio-jet  fuel  has  been  able  to  match  all  the major specifications for aviation fuels such as petroleum derived jet fuel.
-  CSIR  has  developed  micro-channel  reactors  with  stable  catalyst  coating formulations  that  are  used  to  intensify  the  processes  involving  vegetable oils. These reactors have great impact on the product yield and conversion in  hydro-processing  of  vegetable  oils.  CSIR  has  used  the  micro-channel reactors  to  convert  non-edible  oil  and  biomass-derived  oil  (pyrolysis-oil), biomass-derived gases (syn-gas) and coal derived gasses (coal gasification to syn-gas) into second and third generation biofuel.
-  A  Mobile  Pilot  Plant  for  Toxic  Emission  Monitoring  and  Control  has  been developed by CSIR for undertaking flue gas emission monitoring and control studies  in  various  industries  including  Small  and  Medium  Scale  Industries (SMEs). Flue gas comprising of dust of different sizes and gases of varying concentrations representing different small scale industries such as ceramic  kilns,  hot  mix  plants,  other  small  scale  industries  etc.  will  be monitored for its emission characterization.

-  CSIR has set up a Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel (MART) at the CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) campus, Bengaluru. The tunnel, first of its kind in India, will be used to test the fixedwing, flapping-wing and rotary-wing  MAVs  in  the  500  mm  wingspan category. The tunnel was set up under the National Programme on Micro Air Vehicles  (NP-MICAV).  The  project  is  jointly  coordinated  by  CSIR,  the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) and the Department of Science & Technology. The state-of-the-art tunnel would address all the aerodynamic, propulsion and aero-elastic issues related to MAVs.
-  CSIR  has  been  a  consistent  comrade  of  the  ISRO  and  DAE.  Its  unstinting strong R&D support to the strategic sector has been most beneficial to the country.  Gyrotron,  a  device  used  in  nuclear  fusion  process,  is  currently imported in the country. Countries that manufacture gyrotrons namely the United  States,  Russia,  Japan,  and  European  Union  do  not  disclose  their designs and associated technology. Through focused efforts, CSIR with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has developed the first Indian gyrotron which is ready to be tested at the Institute for Plasma Research (DAE), Gandhinagar, which is a partner institute on this project.
-  CSIR has also been providing support in the development, production and supply  of  neodymium  doped  phosphate  laser  glass  to  the  Raja  Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (DAE).
-  CSIR  has  been  contributing  in  the  area  of  healthcare.  Some  recently developed technologies/interventions benefitting the common people include:  Streptokinase (a drug for cardiovascular disease); Risorine (a cost effective bioavailability enhanced anti-tuberculosis drug); Battery operated hand-held MicroPCR (towards affordable and point of care disease diagnostics for Tuberculosis, Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya, Hepatitis B and H1N1); nonClonableID technology for medical product authentication; Diagnostic system for affordable, point of need testing to manage HIV and TB; Novel molecular diagnostics for eye diseases; and e-Health Center (eHC, a  platform  for  the  fourth  paradigm  of  science,  data-intensive  discovery, while  bringing  affordable  healthcare  services  to  the  doorstep  of  people). CSIR has recently developed a novel, safe poly-herbal formulation BGR-34 as  a  safe  hypoglycaemic  agent  for  management  of  diabetes  conditions which has recently been commercialized by an industry.
-  Plasma gelsolin, a circulating actin-binding protein serving a protective role against  tissue  injuries  is  fast  emerging  as  a  health  condition  biomarker. Depletion  of  plasma  gelsolin  in  systemic  inflammation  contributes  to

- adverse  outcomes.  CSIR  has  developed  two  mass-production  ready  plate based kits to estimate plasma gelsolin levels in humans. While, most other labs including commercial set-ups are focusing on improving bulk production  of  this  protein,  CSIR  has  developed  bonsai  versions  of  this protein by structure-based insights and has successfully demonstrated the anti-sepsis  properties  of  the  miniaturized  versions  in  LPS-induced  sepsis model  of mice. The  kits thus developed  will help in determining a quantitative  measure  of  sepsis.  The  laboratory  is  also  testing  the  kits viability in predicting cases of preterm birth.
-  Under GUaRDIAN, a one of its kind research programme, CSIR is focused at the development of genomics based diagnostic tools for understanding rare diseases.  The  programme with extensive collaboration between clinicians and researchers is targeted at better understanding the genetic basis and molecular  mechanisms of  rare  genetic  disorders  using  advanced  genomic technology.  The  findings  pave  way  to  newer  diagnostic  methods  such  as exome sequencing based tools which could be an alternative to traditional gene sequencing approach to quickly identify the variations and be able to make an appropriate diagnosis in clinical settings.
-  Further, a national cGMP facility for extraction, formulation and packaging of traditional herbal medicines has been set up at CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative  Medicine  (CSIR-IIIM),  Jammu. It has  been  created  as  per WHO guidelines. The facility will also be made available to R&D institutions and industry. The facility will target preparation of extracts and formulations for conducting clinical trials, process development, scale-up & optimization of lab- processes and converting them into commercially viable technologies besides  generation  of  authentic  and  accurate  clinically  acceptable  data. This  facility  will  transform  quality  herbal  drug  production  in  India  and  its export to US and European markets.
-  CSIR has developed a number of technologies on water, ranging from source finding to mapping  of water resources, from quality  assessment to enhancing potability of water and from recycling to waste water treatment. The  technology  for  community  scale  RO  desalination  plants  has  been developed. The RO plants in various states (Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, West  Bengal,  Gujarat  etc.)  have  been  set  up  based  on  the  technology. Further, technology for arsenic removal from water has been developed and based  on  the  same  common  people  have  benefitted  in  the  state  of  West Bengal.  Also  high  flux  hollow  fibre  membrane  based  technology  for  water disinfection and purification at affordable  cost has been developed and is being used at commercial level.

-  CSIR  has  developed  KrishiShakti,  a  small  range  (11.2  hp)  diesel  engine tractor. The technology of the same has been transferred and manufacturing has been initiated in West Bengal. The tractor was launched in  Delhi  on  20th November  2014.  During  the  launch  five  tractors  were handed  over  to  farmers.  The  KrishiShakti  has  enabled  farmers  with  small land holdings for effective tilling.
-  A cost effective and efficient anti tarnishing lacquer has been developed for brasswares, helping the Moradabad brass cluster. The developed lacquer is very efficient to prevent tarnishing for long durations. Also, energy efficient brass  melting  furnace  has  been  developed  which  is  smoke-free  coal furnace,  handles  more  charge  (brass  melt),  reduces  gas  emission  and pollution by 80% and consumes 20% less coal. It is user friendly as artisans can adopt this furnace without changing their current practices and like the present furnace, this modified version can also be repaired by the artisans. The knowhow has been transferred for commercial use.
-  CSIR  has  developed  an  indigenous  substitute  of  Ukraine  clay  in  granito ceramic tiles which has reduced the Ukraine clay requirement from 20% to about 1%, reducing thus the foreign material import and associated costs. This has made major economic difference and benefitted small and medium scale enterprises in Gujarat.
-  A  food  processing  unit  has  been  set  up  at  CSIR-Centre  for  High  Altitude Biology  (CSIR-CeHAB)  in  the  remote  tribal  region  of  Lahaul  and  Spiti.  A brining unit has been designed and prototype developed for the preservation of  locally  and  abundantly  produced  peas  and  cauliflowers.  The  knowhow was  showcased  at  the  District  level  Tribal  Fair  at  Keylong  and  training organized for the benefit of progressive farmers in the area of food and food processing: making novel products from Buckwheat; and also brining of the peas which is a major crop.
-  CSIR has worked with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for the development of highly priced rice variety, Samba Mahsuri, resistant to the serious Bacterial Blight (BB) disease. This new variety called, improved Samba Mahsuri has been released for commercial cultivation and is being very much appreciated by farmers growing rice.
-  CSIR in collaboration with Rice Research Station, Chinsurah, West Bengal has  developed  novel  low  grain  arsenic  accumulating  rice  genotype.  The variety which is named  as  'Muktashree' will be soon released for cultivation in vast arsenic affected belts of West Bengal.

-  A novel variety of Ashwagandha with high root yield of 15 quintal/hectare has been developed and released to farmers which would help farmers with more  earnings.  The  Ashwagandha  has  useful  applications  in  pharma applications as anti-inflammatory, anti-stroke and anti-arthritis drug adjuvant.
-  CSIR has developed a new variety 'CIM-Jyoti' of Ocimum through intensive breeding efforts for high yield of herb and essential oil with desirable quality of higher citral (68-75%). This variety will produce citral in a short duration of 70-80 days. It also fits in crop rotation/intercropping between wheat and paddy  and  with  other  vegetable  crops  of  small  farmers.  Leaves  of  this variety can also be used in lemon tea.
-  The people of North East India make a number of leather products but they were  unable  to  reach  the  market  and  earn  desired  profit  due  to  lack  of aesthetic appeal and standardisation. There was a need to transform this knowledge  into  wealth  by  increasing  the  value  of  the  products  without losing  its  real  essence.  CSIR  carried  out  a  comprehensive  survey  in  the north eastern region. Based on the inputs from the survey, new ranges of products were developed.  The handbags are crafted and designed with the ethnic  materials  of  the  northeast  and  the  inspirations  are  derived from Ornaments,  Dresses  &  Artifacts  adorned  by  tribal  folks  of  the  northeast India.  The  products  were  displayed  in  various  national/  international  fairs and  have  attracted  many  enquiries.    This  has  benefited  the  women entrepreneurs of North Eastern region.
-  CSIR  has  set  up  post-harvest  centres  in  Mizoram  (Aizawl)  and  Arunachal Pradesh  (Pashighat).    These  centres  are  focused  at  helping  the  local farmers in the region for value addition to their agricultural produce.  The centres  house  technology  for  high  efficiency  drying  and  processing  of ginger, cardamom, turmeric, chilies etc. The farmers are able to sell their produce at 20 - 25% higher price to the processing centres set up. The CSIR Post  Harvest  Technology  Centres  would  generate  direct  employment  to about 300 people.
-  CSIR  has  introduced  and  commercialized  Lilium  cultivation  in  Lahaul  and Spiti  region  of  Himachal  Pradesh.  CSIR  has  played  a  catalytic  role  in  the promotion of commercial floriculture in Himachal Pradesh. The transfer of agrotechnologyofLilium  in  the  region  was  realized  by  the  flower  growers through sale of cut flowers at Delhi flower market. Over 3000 farmers are engaged in floriculture in Himachal Pradesh.

-  CSIR has developed knowhow  for easy cultivation of economically important seaweed, namely Kappaphycusalvarezii, which was disseminated to the fishing community in coastal regions of Tamil Nadu as supplementary activity  to  existing  fishing  activities.  Presently,  more  than  eight  hundred Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are engaged in seaweed farming in the region. It provides a regular and sustainable income source for women, with each of them  earning  on  an  average  Rs.  5000/per  month  for  a  period  of  eight months  in  a  year.  CSIR  has  further  developed  integrated  process  for simultaneous recovery of two products from the harvested fresh seaweed, namely,  hydrocolloid  of  commercial  use  and  liquid  biofertilizer  for  use  by farmers.
-  CSIR  has  been  adopting  villages  to  promote  employment  generation  and income  augmentation.  It  has  thus  catalyzed  commercial  cultivation  of Geranium  in  Uttaranchal  and  Lavender  in  Jammu  &  Kashmir  through community participation. In these end to end missions, farmers have been trained  not  only  for  cultivation  of  Geranium  and  Lavender  but  also  for extraction  of  oil,  augmenting  thus  their  income.  Likewise  CSIR  efforts through  development  of  niche  Mentha  varieties  and  their  propagation  for mass cultivation are noteworthy. The efforts have led to economic growth and  have  enabled  India  to  acquire  a  world  leadership  position  in  Menthol mint oil production and export.
-  CSIR efforts for socio-economic development had led to: empowering people of the Kashmir Valley through creation of aromatic plant industry; development  of  bio-inoculants  for  enhancing  plant  productivity  and  its dissemination  to  the  farmers  in  Uttar  Pradesh  in  the  partnership  with  the State  Government on  a very large  scale  and  it  has  enhanced  agriculture productivity;  and  development  of  mushroom  technology,  its  transfer  and training which has benefitted economically the rural women in North East States.  CSIR  has  also  launched  the  Jammu  Aroma  Arogya  Gram  (JAAG) Yojana  for  deployment  of  CSIR  agri-technologies  and  handholding  the farmers of J&K for cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants in the state.
-  CSIR has conducted the analysis, designing and structural detailing of (G+1) reinforced concrete buildings using Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Panels. The salient features of the technology are: faster mode of construction; ideal for mass production of houses; affordable; and disaster resistant - cyclone wind loads.  The  developed  technology  has  been  transferred  to  Consortium Transmission  Systems  Pvt.  Ltd.  (CTSPL),  Hyderabad  for  'Hudhud'  cyclone victims' rehabilitation housing programme at Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh.