The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research should get ample opportunities to connect with industries and people, Samir K. Brahmachari, Director-General of CSIR, said on Saturday.

According to him, the country’s apex research body needs to commercialise its innovations.

“CSIR is a well kept secret of the country. It should be brought out in the public to connect with more industries and beneficiaries,” Brahmachari said.

He was addressing an interactive session on the upcoming CSIR Innovation Complex at Kolkata.

“Until a couple of years ago, industries were not keen to come to us. Now, they are realising the usefulness of such an industrial research body for innovation,” he added.

Innovation Complex

Brahmachari said the country’s first CSIR Innovation Complex at Kolkata would be completed by 2014 with an investment of Rs 100 crore. To be located at Baruipur, it is aimed at boosting commercialisation of innovation.

“The innovation complex will come up in Baruipur on a 23-acre campus close to Kolkata. This is the first of the three proposed innovation complexes. The next two complexes will come up in Mumbai and Chennai,” Brahmachari said.

According to Indranil Manna, Director of Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, another innovation centre spread over a five-acre plot in Salt Lake is under development. This will assist activities of the upcoming Baruipur unit of the CSIR. The centre is expected to be functional in the next three to four months.

While an innovation complex would work on converting a technology into a product, scaling up any product to commercial level would also be its focus, Brahmachari pointed out.

> ayan.pramanik@thehindu.co.in

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