Union minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Tuesday inaugurated the One Week One Lab (OWOL) campaign organised by CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad.

Addressing the occasion, Singh said, "It is important to supplement resources and knowledge among institutions to support Research and Development. All the 37 CSIR labs work in coordination with each other, discussing their research ideas, as this leads to quality research output and limits overlap of research effort making it more cost-effective.”

"Integration among labs, public and private R&D labs and industry is needed for effective utilisation of resources. CSIR-IICT can set a model for other labs to follow. Hyderabad offers tradition with technology, culture with chemistry, Nizam with new India and all these footprints can be found in this institute,” he added.

“Industry has to be an important component of research and this was visualised when the industry in India was in a very primitive stage. It is now being implemented more than ever. Not only has scientific admission increased but industrial entrepreneurship has also awakened,’’ he further said.

IICT Director Dr. D Srinivasa Reddy, said, “Our rich pool of scientists with expertise in broad-ranging research areas combined with good business development strategies is driving CSIR-IICT towards making India Atmanirbhar Bharat in chemical technologies.”

“We are setting up a biorefinery demonstration plant to produce green H2 (150 KLD) using solid waste associated with multiple bio-based products with decentralised and captive applications. I request industry participation, including startups present here to take advantage of CSIR technologies and I assure you that together we can achieve ambitious Atmanirbhar Bharat,” he added.

Krishna Ella, the chairman of Bharat Biotech who was also present, lauded the initiative as a step forward to technology marking it essentially “important.”

Speaking to ANI post-event Ella said, “This is an amazing program and the reason why it is amazing is that for the first time, students, faculty and Industries are all brought in one room to discuss what India should be in the future. I think the Honorable Minister, has revitalized the science and technology of the country which is very important. This is not just another meeting but to bring all the people, all the stakeholders and talk freely about what can be done for the country. It is not what we want, but what the country needs.”

Image courtesy: PIB