Lok Sabha Question No. 1816 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Agreements for Research
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: RAMESH BIDHURI

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

LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1816

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04/05/2016

## AGREEMENTS FOR RESEARCH

## †1816.  SHRI RAMESH BIDHURI:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY òãðìððÐð ¡ðøÜ ÑßðøÌðð÷ò±ð¨îó Ùðüëðó be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  signed  any  agreements  with  the  national  and  international institutions for promoting research during the last two years;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the number of projects so selected for research during the above period and the outcome of such research; and

(d) the funds provided/utilised for the purpose during the above period?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES (SHRI Y.S. CHOWDARY)

òãðìððÐð ¡ðøÜ ÑßðøÌðð÷ò±ð¨îó ÙðüëððâðÚð Ùð÷ü Üð¸Úð Ùðüëðó +ÉÉè® ÑðöÆãðó òãðìððÐð ÙðüëððâðÚð Ùð÷ü Üð¸Úð Ùðüëðó

<!-- formula-not-decoded -->

(a) & (b): An intra-governmental agreement has been signed recently among 25 Departments to address and  provide  solutions  to  the  most  relevant  engineering  challenges  faced  by  our  nation  by  translating knowledge  into  viable  technology  (product  and  processes)  in  selected  technology  domains  to  enable, empower and embolden the nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance. This initiative titled IMPRINT (IMPacting  Research  INnovation  and  Technology)  is  piloted  by  the  Ministry  of  Human  Resource Development (MHRD) and steered by Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc).  India  has  signed  agreements  for  the  Thirty  Meter  Telescope  (TMT)  project  and  Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)-India project with partner countries/scientific organizations.  Council  of  Scientific  and  Industrial  Research  (CSIR)  has  collaborated  with  various institutes  both  academic  and  R&D  labs  from  India  as  well  as  abroad.  The  Science  and  Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology has entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with reputed overseas universities for deputing Indian students graduating from Indian universities/ institutes to pursue Ph.D. in areas of science, technology, engineering and medicine.

(c) &  (d): IMPRINT  identified 10 engineering domains, namely Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology, Energy, Sustainable Habitat, Nano-technology, Water Resources and River systems, Advanced Materials, Manufacturing, Security and Defence, Environmental Science and Climate Change with each domain is further divided into themes, sub-themes, target and topics. Close to 3000 preliminary  proposals  have  been  received  by  MHRD,  and  identification  of  projects  for  funding  is  in process. SERB has signed MoU with 8 overseas universities. Rs. 48.98 crore for TMT project and Rs. 30 lakh for Overseas doctoral fellowship have been released so far. All these programmes have been initiated very recently and it takes time to estimate the research outcomes.

********