Focus on NanoMission (2007-2012), India’s national nanotechnology initiative.
India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, in a large part based on its technological capabilities, especially in Information & Communication Technology (ICT). The Indian government has scaled up investment considerably in the past few years, but nanotechnology development is at a formative stage. Out with the materials production sector, nanotechnology business activity is at a relatively low level. India currently ranks 6th in terms of the volume of nanotechnology research published, but the gap between research institutes and industry is still wide.
NanoMission 2007-2012
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is the main coordinating body for nanotechnology in India, and set up a Nano Science Committee in 1998 to promote research in the field. DST initiated the current programme, the Nanoscience and Technology Mission (NSTM) in 2007, with a budget of Rupees 1000 crores (approx. US$245 million) through to 2012. So far, only half of this budget has been spent.
This programme followed on from the Nanoscience and Technology Initiative (NSTI), 2001–06 (funding for which was approx. 180 crores). Over 200 projects have been funded in these two plans, with 19 Centres of Excellence established. 40% of the funding has been allocated to basic research and HRD, with around 50% funding towards technology development. Main focus areas are in the electronics, water, energy and biotechnology sectors. Other government agencies with nanotechnology agendas include the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERD).
The Nano Mission has established a range variety of educational and HRD programmes, R&D programmes, the aforementioned centres of excellence, promoted institution-industry linked projects through increased public private partnerships, established international collaborations and fostered entrepreneurship through the establishment of business incubators.
The majority of projects funded have been application orientated, with the NanoMission seeking to develop products and processes for national development, especially in areas of national relevance like safe drinking water, materials development, sensors development, drug delivery, etc. To achieve this, a key element of the mission has been establishing linkages between educational and research institutions and industry and promoting Public-Private Partnerships. Additionally, an important part of this funding is directed towards the development of the human resource required to facilitate a long-term and competitive industry.
Regulatory framework
DST has also been developing a regulatory framework for nanotechnology with a number of Departments, including the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The body will be called the Nanotechnology Regulatory Board and will be run by DST.
Centres of Excellence
Twelve Units on Nanoscience, seven centres for Nanotechnology and a Centre for Computational Materials Science have been established as part of the Centres of Excellence Programme.
Unit of Nanoscience
• IIT Madras, Chennai
• IACS, Kolkata
• University of Pune
• S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata
• NCL, Pune
• Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore
• BHU, Varanasi
• IIT Kanpur, Kanpur
• IISc, Bangalore
• IIT Delhi, New Delhi
• SINP, Kolkata
• IISER-Pune.
Centre for Nano Technology
• Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, Kerala: Implants, Tissue Engineering, Stem Cell Research.
• S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata: NEMS & MEMS / Nano products.
• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research: Nanoscale phenomena in biological systems & materials.
• IIT-Bombay, Mumbai: Nanoelectronics, polymer nanosensors, nanobiotechnology
• Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore: Nanodevices, Nanocomposites, Nanobiosensors
• IIT, Kanpur: Printable Electronics, Nanopatterning
• Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science: Photovoltaics & Sensor Devices.
Centre for Computational Materials Science
• Centre for Computational Materials Science at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore
Output from the units and centers to date has been as follows:
12 Units
• Cost (Rs, Crore): 97.22
• Papers: 1696
• Conference papers: 92
• Patents: 60
• Ph.Ds.: 151
7 Centres and Centre for Computational Materials Science
• Cost (Rs, Crore): 68.53
• Papers: 413
• Conference papers: 91
• Patents: 16
• Ph.Ds.: 23
An Institute of Nano Science and Technology has also been established at Mohali as a new grant-in-aid institution of DST at a total cost of Rs. 142.50 crore for 5 years. This institute will focus on agri- and bio-nano technologies. The NanoMission initiative has also established M.Sc./M.Tech. Programmes in Nano Science and Technology in 15 institutions across the country.
Public-Private Partnerships
The public-private partnerships strand of the Nano Mission has established a number of joint institution-industry projects:
• Nano Functional Materials Centre, IIT Madras and Murugappa Chettiar & Orchid Pharma
• Nano Technology Centre, University of Hyderabad and Dr. Reddy’s Labs
• Centre for Interactive & Smart Textiles,IIT Delhi and ARCI, Hyderabad & Textile Industry
• Centre for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, NIPER, Chandigarh and various pharma companies
• Rubber Nanocomposites, MG University, Kottayam and Apollo Tyres
• Nanophosphor Application Centre, University of Allahabad and Nanotech Corp., USA
However, linkages between the research base and industry are still not great and as a result from April 2012 the Nano Mission will be extending loans to companies seeking to develop research collaborations. The government will provide soft loans and grants of up to Rs. 10 crore. A number of nanotech companies have established bases in India over the past year. Wipro collaborated with Imecto set up its R&D unit in Bangalore, ARISE. US Company Hysitron Inc has also established an India R&D centre at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala through its wholly-owned subsidiary Hysitron Nanotechnology India. According to DST there are nanotech products coming onto the market rom Indian companies including water filters, biomedical products, several chemicals, cosmetics and paints.
International Collaborations
As part of the international collaboration strand of the NanoMission, DST encourages exploratory visits of scientists, organisation of joint workshops and conferences and joint research projects. For example, the IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) nanotechnology initiative is a collaborative research and development programme between the Departments of Science and Technology in India, Brazil and South Africa for South-South collaboration on the promotion of nanotechnology for clean water.
2012 onwards
Nanotechnology will also feature in the 12th five year national plan (2012-2017). The main objective recommended in the 12th Plan is to make India a hub of research, development and innovation in the area of IT and electronics leading to commercialization so as to contribute to the overall socio-economic growth of the country. Nanotechnology represents one of the key areas identified in the electronics area as both a standalone sector and underpinning other segments such as medical electronics and electronic materials and components.
