Identifier
Created
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Origin
08NEWDELHI433
2008-02-11 05:09:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LAUNCHES THE NANOTECHNOLOGY MISSION IN
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SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LAUNCHES THE NANOTECHNOLOGY MISSION IN
ITS ELEVENTH FIVE-YEAR PLAN
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TAGS: ECON ETRD BEXP EINV PGOV TSPL SENV TBIO TRGY TNGD
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SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LAUNCHES THE NANOTECHNOLOGY MISSION IN
ITS ELEVENTH FIVE-YEAR PLAN
NEW DELHI 00000433 001.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
Motivation for Indian Investment in Nanotechnology
-------------- --------------
2. (U) India being a favoured destination for knowledge process
outsourcing (KPO) [nearly 200 of the Fortune 500 companies have set
up R&D facilities in India], Indian industries moving up in the
value chain though innovation, utilization of the demographic
advantage (high percentage of youth) and India's aspiration to
become a developed nation by 2020 and be a knowledge based economy
have been the motivation for tripling the S&T budget to USD 18.7
billion in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). Other factors
which contributed to this sharp rise include inadequate funding for
R&D as a percentage of the GDP in the earlier plan periods, aging
S&T infrastructure and relatively poor S&T indicators.
Nanotechnology is an important focus area of the S&T plan not only
because of its huge market potential but also due its ability to
address some of the key issues of health, clean water, agriculture,
energy and environment which form the basis of the Eleventh Plan
theme of "Inclusive Growth." Further, India's successes in some of
its mission-oriented programs in atomic energy and space have given
an added impetus for launching the "Nanotechnology Mission." The
cumulative allocation of over USD 1 billion in the Eleventh Plan far
exceeds the estimated Tenth Plan funding of USD 50 million.
Assessment of Nanotechnology Activities in India
-------------- ---
3. (U) Nanotechnology is a highly multidisciplinary field and
encompasses a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines. Hence,
assessment of both funding and state-of-the-art becomes difficult.
The nanotechnology effort in India can be broadly categorized in
three areas: i) passive nanostructures (for example, protective
coatings); ii) active nanostructures (simple devices or sensors) and
iii) systems based on nanostructures (for example, lab on a chip).
The efforts seemed to be predominantly focused on passive and active
nanostructures, as expected from the relatively recent (5 years)
funding and the trend in publications. Limited efforts are on in
the area of nanotechnology enabled systems (lab on chip),through
the creation of Centres of Excellence, which are expected to serve
as user facilities.
4. (U) Earlier assessments by the ESTH office as well as by
scientists from United States (US) had given the sense that
nanotechnology was just a buzz word here without much substance.
However considerable ground work seems to have been done in recent
years, culminating in the GOI gaining confidence to substantially
increase the allocation and launching the Nanotechnology Mission.
To assess the actual status, SciCouns and SciFSN have interacted
with various government agencies, R&D laboratories, academic
institutions and industry. It looks like the relatively low funding
for R&D by GOI in the previous Plan periods had led the labs to be
poorly prepared for nanotechnology R&D, as reflected in the earlier
NEW DELHI 00000433 002.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
assessments. However, the change seems to have been brought about
due to the following reasons:
- The information technology revolution and the availability of
online literature;
- Increase in funding leading to the creation of the necessary
infrastructure for R&D and an environment for training of a large
scientific talent pool;
- The return of many Indian scientists trained abroad from US,
Europe and developed Asian countries;
- Broadening the Indian R&D efforts to include more institutions and
not just Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs),Indian Institute of
Science (IISc) and national labs; and
- A serious efforts towards forming public-private partnerships.
5. (U) However, in spite of the enhanced funding in S&T there are
several challenges. During the period 2005- 2006, only 54 percent
of the total funds allocated for development projects in the
Department of Science and Technology (DST) were utilised. The
problem of not finding suitable or sufficient proposals, as well as
qualified principal investigators (PIs) was echoed by Dr. Aiyagari
Rao, Advisor, Science & Engineering Research Council (SERC),DST and
Dr. Uttam of Department of Information Technology (DIT),who head
the respective nanotechnology activities in their Departments. But
these problems are expected to go away once additional
infrastructure for nanotechnology related research is built up and
the talent pool is increased. Also, the old bias of not funding
private academic institutions and industries is going away and the
GOI is moving towards enhanced public-private partnerships, greater
accountability and time bound focused projects.
6. (U) Similar to the US, the Indian nanotechnology initiative is a
multi-agency effort. The key agencies are the DST and Department of
Biotechnology (DBT) under the Ministry of Science & Technology, and
DIT under the Ministry of Information & Communication. Other
agencies which are also investing include the Council of Scientific
Industrial Research (CSIR),the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE),Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW),Ministry of
Agriculture (MOA) through the Indian Council for Agricultural
Research (ICAR),Department of Space (Indian Space Research
Organization, ISRO),Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the
Ministry of Defense (MOD) through Defense Research and Development
Organization (DRDO). Thus the precise budget estimates or
allocation for nanotechnology is difficult to estimate. Some
agencies have well defined outlays, while others have allocations
for an interdisciplinary area in which nanotechnology has a key
role, while there are agencies which have not mentioned it, even
though they have ongoing programs. Thus the total budget identified
is a conservative estimate and the actual allocation could be much
greater.
Accomplishments during the Tenth Five-Year Plan
NEW DELHI 00000433 003.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
-------------- --
7. (U) During the Tenth Plan, GOI cumulatively invested
approximately USD 50 million through agencies such as DST, DBT, CSIR
and DIT. The focus was on the creation of infrastructure for
nanotechnology R&D. This funding did not include investments by the
institutes themselves in buildings, faculty salaries, overhead etc.,
but just seed grants for equipment and R&D projects. The major
initiatives included:
- The Nano Science and Technology Initiatives (NSTI) (USD 15
million) for materials growth, characterization and simulation
studies;
- The National Program for Smart Materials (NPSM) (USD 15 million)
for MEMS and NEMS (Micro/Nano Electro Mechanical Systems); and
- The National Microelectronic and Nanotechnology Program (NMNP)
(USD 10 million) for design & development and possible pilot
production capability of complete systems (lab on chip).
8. (U) Under the NSTI program, eleven new Centres of Excellence in
different areas of nanotechnology were established with seed
funding. These Centres are expected to be similar to the
nanotechnology centres established by NSF in the US. For example,
IIT Mumbai and IISc Bangalore are being set up as Centres for
Nanotechnology Fabrication by DIT with an initial grant of USD 2.5
million. This grant does not include the cost of buildings and
faculty salaries. Applied Materials, a leading US MNC, has joined
IIT Mumbai as one of the research partners and has also donated
advanced process equipment worth USD 7.5 million. Inter-university
Microelectronic Centre (IMEC),Belgium, Europe's leading
nanotechnology research centre is collaborating with IISc Bangalore.
DIT plans to set up five more such centres in the Eleventh Plan.
Prof. Ramgopal Rao, Head of the Centre at IIT Mumbai, told SciFSN
that the facility is open to all researchers in India. Scientists
could send proposals for using the Centre facilities and after a
quick peer review, if approved, they would be allowed to carry out
experiments at the Centre. In effect, they are developing a user
facility model, the difference being that the user need not pay for
the experiments and will also receive a travel grant. Thus the
Centre is expected to facilitate and nurture new ideas and talent in
the domain of nanotechnology, with minimal time lag or funding
constrains. The NSTI program has led to funding of about 100
projects resulting in over 20 patents and about 250 publications in
refereed journals.
9. (U) The NPSM and NMNP programs involved industry, academic
institutions and R&D labs with the goal of delivering prototypes and
products on a fast track. It also led to the creation of facilities
for fabrication of complete systems (lab on chip) from
proof-of-concept to low volume production. The centres identified
and developed to cater to these activities are: Semiconductor
Complex Ltd (SCL) Chandigarh, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL)
NEW DELHI 00000433 004.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
Bangalore, Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute
(CEERI),Pilani and Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology
(CMET),Pune. Further, the goal was to develop basic platform
technologies, which could easily be adopted for use with different
nanomaterials and applications. An example is the development of a
LPG gas sensor, which is soon expected to be used in automobiles and
homes as a safety device. These facility centres are now open to
all users in India and abroad.
Indian Industry Investing in Nanotechnology
--------------
10. (SBU) Indian industry has also sensed the future and the
promise of nanotechnology. Companies like Glenmark, Biocon,
Ranbaxy, Reddys, Cipla, and Dabur in pharma domain and others like
Tata, Reliance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Samtel, and Moser Baer to
mention a few, are working on nanotechnology based applications.
These companies are also developing a wide range of indigenous
systems for process technologies. They vary from a multiple head
spray process assisted nanoparticle formation technology for pharma
industry to a customized plasma process and ion assisted
nanomaterial deposition systems for flat panel displays. Most of
the companies hope to double or triple their scientific staff
working in this area and increase R&D funding. Several, like Tata,
are funding projects in US and European universities and recruiting
Indian PhD students directly from US graduate schools. During
SciFSN's interactions with several US MNCs like HP, Intel, GE and
Shell, it was learnt that all these companies are engaged in
nanotechnology R&D in India.
11. (SBU) Recently DST and National Science & Technology Management
Information System Division (NSTMIS) of GOI have engaged the
National Foundation of Engineers (NAFEN) to undertake a study
entitled "Status of Nanotechnology in Indian Industry & Academia/R&D
Labs". SciFSN obtained this information on the on-going survey on
industry involvement in nanotechnology from DST. A cluster of 65
companies and R&D institutes have invested about USD 375 million
(inclusive of all costs). Almost 2000 scientists are working in
these organizations in nanotechnology. The work has already led to
over 49 national and 18 international patents. Further, 20
processes have been transferred for commercialization.
12. (U) New clusters of start ups in the area of nanotechnology are
also coming up in Mumbai-Pune corridor, Bangalore, Kolkata and
Chandigarh and are expected to launch products in the market soon.
For example, Ican-nano, a one year old a start-up in Kolkata already
sells about 40 different nanoparticle enabled products. These
products are already being used by industries like automobiles,
pharma, construction, paints and packaging, in India and abroad.
13. (U) A clear sign of the growing nanotechnology interest in
India is the hosting of over twenty international conferences just
NEW DELHI 00000433 005.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
in the past four months by government agencies, trade & industry
organizations like the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI),The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry
of India (ASSOCHAM) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII),
and R&D and academic institutions. Over 1500 papers were presented
at these conferences. Just from the US, over 250 scientists
participated in these meetings. The ESTH office was involved in
enabling some of these conferences along with Indo-US S&T Forum and
the Indian industry organizations.
Strategy and Framework for Nanotechnology Investments
-------------- --------------
14. (U) The broad framework for implementation of the Indian S&T
activities in the Eleventh Plan period (2007-12) including the
"Nanotechnology Mission" was prepared by a committee headed by Dr. R
Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of
India. The committee had experts from diverse scientific
disciplines from industry, R&D labs, academia and representatives
from the various ministries. As mentioned earlier, this envisages
an investment of about USD 18.7 billion. The plan outlay is only a
broad guideline for implementation. Budget allocations can change
on an annual basis based on the progress or change in the
requirements during the execution of the projects. While the office
of the PSA has formulated the S&T outlay for the Eleventh Plan
including the Nanotechnology Mission, participating ministries are
free to vary the allocations in their annual budgets. As an
example, Dr. Phadke, Advisor in DIT, said that in the 2006-07
budget, the initial allocation for nanotechnology was USD 4.56
million. But as good progress was made, funding was increased and
the actual amount spent was USD 11.4 million.
15. (U) Commenting on the initiative, Dr. CNR Rao, an acclaimed
chemist, who wears multiple hats as the Chairperson of the GOI
Nanotechnology Mission and Chairperson of the Scientific Advisory
Committee to the Prime Minister of India said "Though India may have
missed many a technology bus over the decades, we cannot afford to
miss the nano bus, as it is the future of the world, dominating
science and technology in the 21st century". Dr. T. Ramasami,
Secretary DST, told SciOffs that "Research expertise in India is
SIPDIS
available at one-third the cost of developed countries. Hence global
R&D institutes and companies in nanoscience and nanotechnology would
outsource their requirements from the young scientists and
technologists in India. The present Nanotechnology Mission would
further facilitate that."
Nanotechnology Mission 2007-2012
--------------
16. (U) Having developed a reasonable level of confidence from the
results of the Nanotechnology initiative under the Tenth Plan, the
GOI has embarked on the more ambitious "Nanotechnology Misson". As
discussed earlier in para 6, the multiple agencies' involvement in
the Nanotechnology Mission and the interdisciplinary nature of the
technology makes it difficult to estimate the exact amount of the
NEW DELHI 00000433 006.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
planned investment. Further, multiple agencies have also some
duplication in programs with variations in focus or applications.
Some departments have well-defined outlays, while others have broad
allocations and in some cases, we have no information. Thus the
nanotechnology budget outlay discussed below may be considered as a
conservative estimate of the scale of investment but the seriousness
of intent is obvious. This is an opportunity for engagement not to
be missed.
17. (U) DST, as a nodal agency, has a program under the
Nanotechnology Mission for USD 255 million in the Eleventh Plan.
Under this program the key focus would be on funding basic research
including study of risks associated with nanotechnology, carrying
out extensive training programs to encourage more scientists to take
up activities in this area, and enable collaboration with industries
and foreign countries. The other key players like DIT have an
outlay of USD 63.3 million towards strengthening the existing
Centres of Excellence and creating new ones related to the
development of nanoelectronics. DBT has a budget of USD 31.6
million. The focus is towards nanotechnology enabled products in
the health domain in collaboration with industries. The CSIR (a
consortium of 38 national labs),out of its total outlay of USD 4.5
billion, plans to spend approximately USD 1.03 billion on a Centre
of Excellence in Metrology, electronic materials, biotechnology,
food processing industry, solar energy, chemical process
technologies, and pharma and drugs. Even if 20 percent of this were
for nanotechnology, it would amount to approximately USD 200
million. The MNRE has a budget outlay of about USD 755 million for
fuel cells, solar cells & LED based lighting development.
Nanomaterials are expected to play a significant role in these
applications. Other departments like Health, Defence, Space, Atomic
Energy, Agriculture and HRD have not delineated specific amounts in
nanotechnology. Thus even the most conservative estimate of the
funding for nanotechnology related activities is expected to touch
USD 1 billion in the Eleventh Plan.
18. (U) In addition, the DST has a separate fund of about USD 2
billion for the creation of an autonomous body, The National Science
& Engineering Research Foundation, similar to NSF, three National
Nanotechnology Institutions, six Indian Institutes for Science
Education and Research (IISER) and six National Institutes for
Pharmacy Education and Research (NIPER). This fund also has
provision for nanotechnology related research fellowships.
International Collaborations
--------------
19. (U) The GOI is also actively encouraging international
collaborations to draw on external expertise. Memoranda of
Understanding (MOUs) have been signed with Israel, Australia,
Germany, UK, China, Japan and European Union (EU). Most of these
countries have a 50:50 funding strategy for joint projects. For
NEW DELHI 00000433 007.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
example, EU has funded 80 projects under its Nanotechnology
Initiative [2003-2006] with Indian partners. The Indian partners
received about USD 16 million of the total project funding of USD
365 million. During the Indo-EU Nanotechnology meeting in March
2007, Dr. Nicholas Deliyanakis, EU Director General of Research,
mentioned in his presentation that funding for Indo-EU joint
projects in nanotechnology will be doubled during the period
2007-2013.
Ongoing Activities between US and India
--------------
20. (U) The ESTH office is actively involved in facilitating
interactions between visiting US scientists and faculty and their
counterparts in India to enhance collaboration activities in
nanotechnology. For example, Dr. Shyam Sunder from the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the US Department of
Commerce recently visited CSIR. He was encouraged by SciCouns to
increase NIST involvement in the HTCG, which oversees the
nanotechnology interactions between the two countries. In this
regard, ESTH office played a role in India's participation (with a
three member delegation) at a bilateral meeting with the US
nanotechnology delegation on the sidelines of the recent
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) meeting
held in November 2007 in Paris. The Indian delegation expressed
interest in co-operation in the areas of risk assessment/management
related to nanomaterials and metrology related activities. In
addition, DST officials have also visited NSF during 2007. A
NSF-funded workshop and a review of Indian nanotechnology activities
was held in Chennai, India from January 10-13, 2008. The meeting
also attempted to look at future areas of cooperation. Dr. CNR Rao,
Chairperson of the Nanotechnology Mission, inaugurated the workshop.
ESTH office also recently arranged a meeting between the Presidents
of the Indian and US Engineering Academies in December 2007. The
two academies have agreed to look at joint efforts in nanotechnology
and a follow-up meeting is planned in mid-2008 in India.
Comment
--------------
21. (SBU) With the launch of the Nanotechnology Mission and the
commitment of close to USD 1 billion during the Eleventh Five-Year
Plan (2007-2012),GOI has sent a clear message that it is serious
about its interest in nanotechnology. The current focus on
developing centres of excellence in several specialised areas and
the access to these facilities for a large pool of scientists and
entrepreneurs could lead to affordable nanotechnology-enabled
products in the near future. The investment is expected to start
showing tangible results during the next three to five years. This
scenario offers a unique opportunity for the US to re-engage and
partner with India in this critical technology. Further, the US, as
a leader in nanotechnology, by engaging with India at this juncture
NEW DELHI 00000433 008.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration amon laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
could help and ensure India develop safe and sustainable
technologies and practices in this area. This would be especially
beneficial in the burgeoning economic partnership between the two
countries.
MULFORD
SIPDIS
PASS TO MAS/DAS/JESTRADA
PASS TO MAC/DAS/HVINEYARD
PASS TO NSF/MLUECK
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD BEXP EINV PGOV TSPL SENV TBIO TRGY TNGD
EIND, IN
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LAUNCHES THE NANOTECHNOLOGY MISSION IN
ITS ELEVENTH FIVE-YEAR PLAN
NEW DELHI 00000433 001.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
Motivation for Indian Investment in Nanotechnology
-------------- --------------
2. (U) India being a favoured destination for knowledge process
outsourcing (KPO) [nearly 200 of the Fortune 500 companies have set
up R&D facilities in India], Indian industries moving up in the
value chain though innovation, utilization of the demographic
advantage (high percentage of youth) and India's aspiration to
become a developed nation by 2020 and be a knowledge based economy
have been the motivation for tripling the S&T budget to USD 18.7
billion in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). Other factors
which contributed to this sharp rise include inadequate funding for
R&D as a percentage of the GDP in the earlier plan periods, aging
S&T infrastructure and relatively poor S&T indicators.
Nanotechnology is an important focus area of the S&T plan not only
because of its huge market potential but also due its ability to
address some of the key issues of health, clean water, agriculture,
energy and environment which form the basis of the Eleventh Plan
theme of "Inclusive Growth." Further, India's successes in some of
its mission-oriented programs in atomic energy and space have given
an added impetus for launching the "Nanotechnology Mission." The
cumulative allocation of over USD 1 billion in the Eleventh Plan far
exceeds the estimated Tenth Plan funding of USD 50 million.
Assessment of Nanotechnology Activities in India
-------------- ---
3. (U) Nanotechnology is a highly multidisciplinary field and
encompasses a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines. Hence,
assessment of both funding and state-of-the-art becomes difficult.
The nanotechnology effort in India can be broadly categorized in
three areas: i) passive nanostructures (for example, protective
coatings); ii) active nanostructures (simple devices or sensors) and
iii) systems based on nanostructures (for example, lab on a chip).
The efforts seemed to be predominantly focused on passive and active
nanostructures, as expected from the relatively recent (5 years)
funding and the trend in publications. Limited efforts are on in
the area of nanotechnology enabled systems (lab on chip),through
the creation of Centres of Excellence, which are expected to serve
as user facilities.
4. (U) Earlier assessments by the ESTH office as well as by
scientists from United States (US) had given the sense that
nanotechnology was just a buzz word here without much substance.
However considerable ground work seems to have been done in recent
years, culminating in the GOI gaining confidence to substantially
increase the allocation and launching the Nanotechnology Mission.
To assess the actual status, SciCouns and SciFSN have interacted
with various government agencies, R&D laboratories, academic
institutions and industry. It looks like the relatively low funding
for R&D by GOI in the previous Plan periods had led the labs to be
poorly prepared for nanotechnology R&D, as reflected in the earlier
NEW DELHI 00000433 002.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
assessments. However, the change seems to have been brought about
due to the following reasons:
- The information technology revolution and the availability of
online literature;
- Increase in funding leading to the creation of the necessary
infrastructure for R&D and an environment for training of a large
scientific talent pool;
- The return of many Indian scientists trained abroad from US,
Europe and developed Asian countries;
- Broadening the Indian R&D efforts to include more institutions and
not just Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs),Indian Institute of
Science (IISc) and national labs; and
- A serious efforts towards forming public-private partnerships.
5. (U) However, in spite of the enhanced funding in S&T there are
several challenges. During the period 2005- 2006, only 54 percent
of the total funds allocated for development projects in the
Department of Science and Technology (DST) were utilised. The
problem of not finding suitable or sufficient proposals, as well as
qualified principal investigators (PIs) was echoed by Dr. Aiyagari
Rao, Advisor, Science & Engineering Research Council (SERC),DST and
Dr. Uttam of Department of Information Technology (DIT),who head
the respective nanotechnology activities in their Departments. But
these problems are expected to go away once additional
infrastructure for nanotechnology related research is built up and
the talent pool is increased. Also, the old bias of not funding
private academic institutions and industries is going away and the
GOI is moving towards enhanced public-private partnerships, greater
accountability and time bound focused projects.
6. (U) Similar to the US, the Indian nanotechnology initiative is a
multi-agency effort. The key agencies are the DST and Department of
Biotechnology (DBT) under the Ministry of Science & Technology, and
DIT under the Ministry of Information & Communication. Other
agencies which are also investing include the Council of Scientific
Industrial Research (CSIR),the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE),Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW),Ministry of
Agriculture (MOA) through the Indian Council for Agricultural
Research (ICAR),Department of Space (Indian Space Research
Organization, ISRO),Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the
Ministry of Defense (MOD) through Defense Research and Development
Organization (DRDO). Thus the precise budget estimates or
allocation for nanotechnology is difficult to estimate. Some
agencies have well defined outlays, while others have allocations
for an interdisciplinary area in which nanotechnology has a key
role, while there are agencies which have not mentioned it, even
though they have ongoing programs. Thus the total budget identified
is a conservative estimate and the actual allocation could be much
greater.
Accomplishments during the Tenth Five-Year Plan
NEW DELHI 00000433 003.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
-------------- --
7. (U) During the Tenth Plan, GOI cumulatively invested
approximately USD 50 million through agencies such as DST, DBT, CSIR
and DIT. The focus was on the creation of infrastructure for
nanotechnology R&D. This funding did not include investments by the
institutes themselves in buildings, faculty salaries, overhead etc.,
but just seed grants for equipment and R&D projects. The major
initiatives included:
- The Nano Science and Technology Initiatives (NSTI) (USD 15
million) for materials growth, characterization and simulation
studies;
- The National Program for Smart Materials (NPSM) (USD 15 million)
for MEMS and NEMS (Micro/Nano Electro Mechanical Systems); and
- The National Microelectronic and Nanotechnology Program (NMNP)
(USD 10 million) for design & development and possible pilot
production capability of complete systems (lab on chip).
8. (U) Under the NSTI program, eleven new Centres of Excellence in
different areas of nanotechnology were established with seed
funding. These Centres are expected to be similar to the
nanotechnology centres established by NSF in the US. For example,
IIT Mumbai and IISc Bangalore are being set up as Centres for
Nanotechnology Fabrication by DIT with an initial grant of USD 2.5
million. This grant does not include the cost of buildings and
faculty salaries. Applied Materials, a leading US MNC, has joined
IIT Mumbai as one of the research partners and has also donated
advanced process equipment worth USD 7.5 million. Inter-university
Microelectronic Centre (IMEC),Belgium, Europe's leading
nanotechnology research centre is collaborating with IISc Bangalore.
DIT plans to set up five more such centres in the Eleventh Plan.
Prof. Ramgopal Rao, Head of the Centre at IIT Mumbai, told SciFSN
that the facility is open to all researchers in India. Scientists
could send proposals for using the Centre facilities and after a
quick peer review, if approved, they would be allowed to carry out
experiments at the Centre. In effect, they are developing a user
facility model, the difference being that the user need not pay for
the experiments and will also receive a travel grant. Thus the
Centre is expected to facilitate and nurture new ideas and talent in
the domain of nanotechnology, with minimal time lag or funding
constrains. The NSTI program has led to funding of about 100
projects resulting in over 20 patents and about 250 publications in
refereed journals.
9. (U) The NPSM and NMNP programs involved industry, academic
institutions and R&D labs with the goal of delivering prototypes and
products on a fast track. It also led to the creation of facilities
for fabrication of complete systems (lab on chip) from
proof-of-concept to low volume production. The centres identified
and developed to cater to these activities are: Semiconductor
Complex Ltd (SCL) Chandigarh, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL)
NEW DELHI 00000433 004.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
Bangalore, Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute
(CEERI),Pilani and Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology
(CMET),Pune. Further, the goal was to develop basic platform
technologies, which could easily be adopted for use with different
nanomaterials and applications. An example is the development of a
LPG gas sensor, which is soon expected to be used in automobiles and
homes as a safety device. These facility centres are now open to
all users in India and abroad.
Indian Industry Investing in Nanotechnology
--------------
10. (SBU) Indian industry has also sensed the future and the
promise of nanotechnology. Companies like Glenmark, Biocon,
Ranbaxy, Reddys, Cipla, and Dabur in pharma domain and others like
Tata, Reliance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Samtel, and Moser Baer to
mention a few, are working on nanotechnology based applications.
These companies are also developing a wide range of indigenous
systems for process technologies. They vary from a multiple head
spray process assisted nanoparticle formation technology for pharma
industry to a customized plasma process and ion assisted
nanomaterial deposition systems for flat panel displays. Most of
the companies hope to double or triple their scientific staff
working in this area and increase R&D funding. Several, like Tata,
are funding projects in US and European universities and recruiting
Indian PhD students directly from US graduate schools. During
SciFSN's interactions with several US MNCs like HP, Intel, GE and
Shell, it was learnt that all these companies are engaged in
nanotechnology R&D in India.
11. (SBU) Recently DST and National Science & Technology Management
Information System Division (NSTMIS) of GOI have engaged the
National Foundation of Engineers (NAFEN) to undertake a study
entitled "Status of Nanotechnology in Indian Industry & Academia/R&D
Labs". SciFSN obtained this information on the on-going survey on
industry involvement in nanotechnology from DST. A cluster of 65
companies and R&D institutes have invested about USD 375 million
(inclusive of all costs). Almost 2000 scientists are working in
these organizations in nanotechnology. The work has already led to
over 49 national and 18 international patents. Further, 20
processes have been transferred for commercialization.
12. (U) New clusters of start ups in the area of nanotechnology are
also coming up in Mumbai-Pune corridor, Bangalore, Kolkata and
Chandigarh and are expected to launch products in the market soon.
For example, Ican-nano, a one year old a start-up in Kolkata already
sells about 40 different nanoparticle enabled products. These
products are already being used by industries like automobiles,
pharma, construction, paints and packaging, in India and abroad.
13. (U) A clear sign of the growing nanotechnology interest in
India is the hosting of over twenty international conferences just
NEW DELHI 00000433 005.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
in the past four months by government agencies, trade & industry
organizations like the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI),The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry
of India (ASSOCHAM) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII),
and R&D and academic institutions. Over 1500 papers were presented
at these conferences. Just from the US, over 250 scientists
participated in these meetings. The ESTH office was involved in
enabling some of these conferences along with Indo-US S&T Forum and
the Indian industry organizations.
Strategy and Framework for Nanotechnology Investments
-------------- --------------
14. (U) The broad framework for implementation of the Indian S&T
activities in the Eleventh Plan period (2007-12) including the
"Nanotechnology Mission" was prepared by a committee headed by Dr. R
Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of
India. The committee had experts from diverse scientific
disciplines from industry, R&D labs, academia and representatives
from the various ministries. As mentioned earlier, this envisages
an investment of about USD 18.7 billion. The plan outlay is only a
broad guideline for implementation. Budget allocations can change
on an annual basis based on the progress or change in the
requirements during the execution of the projects. While the office
of the PSA has formulated the S&T outlay for the Eleventh Plan
including the Nanotechnology Mission, participating ministries are
free to vary the allocations in their annual budgets. As an
example, Dr. Phadke, Advisor in DIT, said that in the 2006-07
budget, the initial allocation for nanotechnology was USD 4.56
million. But as good progress was made, funding was increased and
the actual amount spent was USD 11.4 million.
15. (U) Commenting on the initiative, Dr. CNR Rao, an acclaimed
chemist, who wears multiple hats as the Chairperson of the GOI
Nanotechnology Mission and Chairperson of the Scientific Advisory
Committee to the Prime Minister of India said "Though India may have
missed many a technology bus over the decades, we cannot afford to
miss the nano bus, as it is the future of the world, dominating
science and technology in the 21st century". Dr. T. Ramasami,
Secretary DST, told SciOffs that "Research expertise in India is
SIPDIS
available at one-third the cost of developed countries. Hence global
R&D institutes and companies in nanoscience and nanotechnology would
outsource their requirements from the young scientists and
technologists in India. The present Nanotechnology Mission would
further facilitate that."
Nanotechnology Mission 2007-2012
--------------
16. (U) Having developed a reasonable level of confidence from the
results of the Nanotechnology initiative under the Tenth Plan, the
GOI has embarked on the more ambitious "Nanotechnology Misson". As
discussed earlier in para 6, the multiple agencies' involvement in
the Nanotechnology Mission and the interdisciplinary nature of the
technology makes it difficult to estimate the exact amount of the
NEW DELHI 00000433 006.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
planned investment. Further, multiple agencies have also some
duplication in programs with variations in focus or applications.
Some departments have well-defined outlays, while others have broad
allocations and in some cases, we have no information. Thus the
nanotechnology budget outlay discussed below may be considered as a
conservative estimate of the scale of investment but the seriousness
of intent is obvious. This is an opportunity for engagement not to
be missed.
17. (U) DST, as a nodal agency, has a program under the
Nanotechnology Mission for USD 255 million in the Eleventh Plan.
Under this program the key focus would be on funding basic research
including study of risks associated with nanotechnology, carrying
out extensive training programs to encourage more scientists to take
up activities in this area, and enable collaboration with industries
and foreign countries. The other key players like DIT have an
outlay of USD 63.3 million towards strengthening the existing
Centres of Excellence and creating new ones related to the
development of nanoelectronics. DBT has a budget of USD 31.6
million. The focus is towards nanotechnology enabled products in
the health domain in collaboration with industries. The CSIR (a
consortium of 38 national labs),out of its total outlay of USD 4.5
billion, plans to spend approximately USD 1.03 billion on a Centre
of Excellence in Metrology, electronic materials, biotechnology,
food processing industry, solar energy, chemical process
technologies, and pharma and drugs. Even if 20 percent of this were
for nanotechnology, it would amount to approximately USD 200
million. The MNRE has a budget outlay of about USD 755 million for
fuel cells, solar cells & LED based lighting development.
Nanomaterials are expected to play a significant role in these
applications. Other departments like Health, Defence, Space, Atomic
Energy, Agriculture and HRD have not delineated specific amounts in
nanotechnology. Thus even the most conservative estimate of the
funding for nanotechnology related activities is expected to touch
USD 1 billion in the Eleventh Plan.
18. (U) In addition, the DST has a separate fund of about USD 2
billion for the creation of an autonomous body, The National Science
& Engineering Research Foundation, similar to NSF, three National
Nanotechnology Institutions, six Indian Institutes for Science
Education and Research (IISER) and six National Institutes for
Pharmacy Education and Research (NIPER). This fund also has
provision for nanotechnology related research fellowships.
International Collaborations
--------------
19. (U) The GOI is also actively encouraging international
collaborations to draw on external expertise. Memoranda of
Understanding (MOUs) have been signed with Israel, Australia,
Germany, UK, China, Japan and European Union (EU). Most of these
countries have a 50:50 funding strategy for joint projects. For
NEW DELHI 00000433 007.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration among laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
example, EU has funded 80 projects under its Nanotechnology
Initiative [2003-2006] with Indian partners. The Indian partners
received about USD 16 million of the total project funding of USD
365 million. During the Indo-EU Nanotechnology meeting in March
2007, Dr. Nicholas Deliyanakis, EU Director General of Research,
mentioned in his presentation that funding for Indo-EU joint
projects in nanotechnology will be doubled during the period
2007-2013.
Ongoing Activities between US and India
--------------
20. (U) The ESTH office is actively involved in facilitating
interactions between visiting US scientists and faculty and their
counterparts in India to enhance collaboration activities in
nanotechnology. For example, Dr. Shyam Sunder from the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the US Department of
Commerce recently visited CSIR. He was encouraged by SciCouns to
increase NIST involvement in the HTCG, which oversees the
nanotechnology interactions between the two countries. In this
regard, ESTH office played a role in India's participation (with a
three member delegation) at a bilateral meeting with the US
nanotechnology delegation on the sidelines of the recent
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) meeting
held in November 2007 in Paris. The Indian delegation expressed
interest in co-operation in the areas of risk assessment/management
related to nanomaterials and metrology related activities. In
addition, DST officials have also visited NSF during 2007. A
NSF-funded workshop and a review of Indian nanotechnology activities
was held in Chennai, India from January 10-13, 2008. The meeting
also attempted to look at future areas of cooperation. Dr. CNR Rao,
Chairperson of the Nanotechnology Mission, inaugurated the workshop.
ESTH office also recently arranged a meeting between the Presidents
of the Indian and US Engineering Academies in December 2007. The
two academies have agreed to look at joint efforts in nanotechnology
and a follow-up meeting is planned in mid-2008 in India.
Comment
--------------
21. (SBU) With the launch of the Nanotechnology Mission and the
commitment of close to USD 1 billion during the Eleventh Five-Year
Plan (2007-2012),GOI has sent a clear message that it is serious
about its interest in nanotechnology. The current focus on
developing centres of excellence in several specialised areas and
the access to these facilities for a large pool of scientists and
entrepreneurs could lead to affordable nanotechnology-enabled
products in the near future. The investment is expected to start
showing tangible results during the next three to five years. This
scenario offers a unique opportunity for the US to re-engage and
partner with India in this critical technology. Further, the US, as
a leader in nanotechnology, by engaging with India at this juncture
NEW DELHI 00000433 008.2 OF 008
1. (U) Summary: The Government of India (GOI) in its recent
National Development Council (NDC) meeting has approved a Science
and Technology (S&T) budget of approximately USD 18.7 billion in the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012). This is a three-fold increase
over its Tenth Plan allocation of USD 5.9 billion. Nanotechnology
finds a prominent place in the Plan with a cumulative allocation
expected to touch USD 1.0 billion. The areas of focus in this
technology area include biotechnology, pharma, agriculture, energy
and manufacturing. The emphasis is on a multi-pronged approach that
includes creation of a research & development (R&D) infrastructure
for nanotechnology and workforce development, focused time bound
networked projects (collaboration amon laboratories, academic
institutions and industries) with public-private partnership, and
enhanced international collaborations. During the Tenth Plan
period, considerable ground work has been done with an investment of
approximately USD 50 million by the GOI. Nanotechnology related
activities seem to have now gathered momentum in India, unlike the
earlier perception of more talk and less focus and action. Indian
industries have also started investing in this domain. The enhanced
level of activities is obvious from the number of international
conferences, collaborations and products in the market. The ESTH
office has been actively interacting with various government
agencies, laboratories, academic institutions and industries to
assess the level of development and investment and to facilitate
interaction. The time is ripe for the USG to re-engage with India
under the auspices of the High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG)
and develop a mutually beneficial partnership in an area which will
probably have the greatest technological impact in the 21st century.
End Summary.
could help and ensure India develop safe and sustainable
technologies and practices in this area. This would be especially
beneficial in the burgeoning economic partnership between the two
countries.
MULFORD