The Hindu Business Line : Centre to allocate land for maritime complex in Chennai — Kamal Nath inaugurates Intelletual Property Office

THE Union Government will allot over 400 acres near Chennai for a maritime complex and four IT parks, said the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath.

Inaugurating the intellectual property office for patents, designs, trademarks and geographical indications registry, Mr Nath said the land would be near the Old Mahabalipuram Road, about 28 km from Chennai.

They are salt pans belonging to the Centre and 300 acres would be for the maritime complex proposed by the Union Ministry for Shipping and about 100 acres for four Information Technology parks proposed by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, he said.

He was responding to a request by the Union Minister for Shipping, Mr T.R. Baalu, to allocate the land for the maritime complex.

The complex and the intellectual property office would be named after the late Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran.

India was evolving from being a user of intellectual property to that of a producer.

It had over 70 facilities approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and clinical research was increasingly moving into India, he said.

Mr Dayanidhi Maran, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said the strengthening of the intellectual property protection regime would increasingly make India a hub for knowledge-based industries.

It was putting behind it the sluggishness experienced in the last few years in research and development.

R&D is key to a competitive edge and intellectual property was the foundation for knowledge-based economy. India was moving away from a `copy cat' regime and had amended all legislations pertaining to intellectual property to international standards, he said.