The Hindu Business Line : Industrialists urged to make India a leading hardware hub

THE Government today called upon the industrialists to explore the possibilities of making India a leading hardware hub. Efforts should be made to make India stronger in the hardware sector, said the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Kapil Sibal, at a conference.

He added that a high-level meeting was being convened by the Government to encourage the participation of private entrepreneurs in this sector.

Stressing the need of making maximum use of technology exchange between India and Russia, Mr Sibal said it would help improve Indian companies' performance in the textile, sugar and agriculture sector.

Welcoming the Integrated Long Term Programme (ILTP) of cooperation in science and technology between India and Russia, an interface set up by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), he informed that the Confederation of Indian Industry, DST and ILTP would organise a two-day technology summit from October 19, wherein about 50 Russian and 100 Indian scientists will participate. About 150 industry representatives are also likely to take part in the summit.

Meanwhile, the Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India, Mr R. Chidambaram, said the industry should provide inputs to the Government on its requirement in the area of technological innovation.

More than 300 technologies have been developed under ILTP and the industry had shown interest in about 30 of them, he added.