The Hindu Business Line : India has potential to become global R&D hub: Mashelkar

INDIA could leverage its cost-cum-competence with its huge talent potential to become a global innovation hub, from which not only outsourcing of innovation would be done, but also where R&D-based innovation centres would be set up by the western companies, according to the distinguished scientist Dr R.A. Mashelkar.

Delivering the Convocation address at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) here, the Director-General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dr Mashelkar, said the real and unique opportunities that India offers for becoming a true global R&D platform were enormous. He said the cost of doing R&D is fraction of that in the developed world as the entire spend of India's R&D last year was $5 billion, less than the R&D budget of a company like Pfizer alone.

Stating that a dollar in India delivers so much more than anywhere else in the world with India's world class technical manpower, 250 universities, 1,500 R&D units, several IITs and engineering colleges, Dr Mashelkar said this was "an extraordinarily rich resource, which was underutilised even within the Indian space of R&D opportunity".

Dr Mashelkar took pride in stating that National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) of CSIR was a pioneer in recognising and benefiting from the imperative of technoglobalism. The process of globalisation of R&D began in NCL in 1989 and today it has an impressive list of international customers such as DuPont, Dow, Eastman, ICI, General Electric, Cargill, and UoP.

He said at NCL, "We kept on continuously asking what skill-base, capabilities and technologies should we build up? Rather than the stereotype question which products or processes should we develop and for which market?" This shift in strategy, he said, paid up handsomely, reflecting in "destination NCL for many major chemical enterprises around the world today".

Dr Mashelkar did not share the view that the real benefit of India emerging, as a global innovation hub would be reaped by foreign rather than Indian firms. He cites one school of thought to prove that there would be gradual reversal of brain drain. As India becomes a great R&D web with world's best companies doing their most challenging R&D here in India — whether it is Intel designing its latest chip or GE designing its latest aero engine - it would enable normal Indian scientist to stay here to cope with the challenging assignment and also satisfy his love to have his children grow up in India.

He said the shift to India, as an R&D destination would take place in several other areas. Citing the example of drugs and pharmaceuticals, he said the increased emphasis on diseases for the poor — coupled with the setting up of global health funds implies that there is scope that India could become a destination of the creation of `global knowledge for global good through global funding'.

He said the challenge was how to continue to tap the incredible dynamism of global R&D so that Indian institutions and companies could assume the leadership in creating high-wage jobs and building new industries.

This would require, he said, "a sustained commitment to investment in science and technology to strengthen research infrastructure, development of capabilities and means to rapidly integrate new knowledge and technologies into products and gain access to growing sources of innovation, development of technology centres and government incentives and protection, in particular protection of intellectual property extended to science-based high technology inventions.

Presiding over the function, the Commerce Secretary, Mr Dipak Chatterjee, said despite an IT outsourcing backlash in US, Indian businesses demonstrated their resilience by quickly adapting to other markets. While 27 companies have made it to the Forbes list of 2000 top companies, Indian MNCs are emerging in the pharma sector, he said adding that with the issue of compulsory licenses to Indian pharma companies by Malaysia and Korea, a beginning has been made to this vast untapped market potential.

Mr Chatterjee also complimented IIFT for intending to introduce a compulsory course on corporate social responsibility in its curriculum this year.

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