FICCI Global R&D Summit 2017 explores R&D, innovation ecosystem in India

BENGALURU: The Global R&D Summit 2017 opened today, April 6th, in Bengaluru to explore the potential of research and development in catalysing economic cooperation and social development.  The summit is organised by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

With the Government of Karnataka as the State Partner and Russia as the country partner, the event opened with addresses from several dignitaries from the government and leading industry representatives about the increasing focus on innovation and the efforts being made to establish India as an R&D hub.

Shekar Viswanathan Chairman, FICCI Karnataka State Council, Vice Chairman & Whole-time Director Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd. , stressed on the need and relevance of R&D and innovation as a crucial leg to growth and development.

Talking about the R&D ecosystem and innovation in the country Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, spoke about how India is pacing towards increased focus on innovation. He added that over the coming years, India plans to become the third largest R&D hub in the world, after China and US.

“Today, DST is supporting over 100 business incubators that are in turn helping over 2000 startups. Over the course of time, we plan to double these numbers as innovation is expected to grow exponentially in the next five years,” Sharma said.

Shri Gaurav Gupta, the Principal Secretary at Dept. of IT, BT and S&T, Govt. of Karnataka, gave insights on how the state through its policies is leading the R&D space and is spurring investments in the field of innovation. He added that the state, which aims to be the hub of innovation, has also conducted several rounds of discussions with various countries to nurture the R&D capabilities of Bengaluru.

“The city has made certain great strides that have brought several large funds as foreign investment into the country. The mature ecosystem of Bengaluru has attracted several MNCs to invest in the city to conduct their R&D operations here that would in turn lead to enhancing their global strategies,” Gupta said.

Fomichev Oleg Vladislavovich, State Secretary-Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, spoke of the long running India-Russia partnerships and particularly stressed on the need to extend the collaborations in developing R&D capabilities for various sectors.

Phil Shaw, the Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin India said, “R&D is crucial in India, which is pushing innovation. Through our programs, we aim to help projects that bring forth a societal impact.” He particularly stressed on the India Innovation Growth Programme that Lockheed Martin have been running jointly with other partners since the last 10 years.
The Summit also witnessed the launch of FICCI-Edelman Knowledge Reports on ‘Towards Making Bengaluru as R&D Capital of India’ and ‘Harnessing private Sector Investment in R&D’.
The addresses concluded with FICCI R&D Awards Distribution which saw several winners gaining accolades for their spectacular innovations.

Dr Makarand Phadke, Chairman, FICCI National Committee on S&T/Innovation & Sr. VP-Innovations, Reliance Industries Ltd presented the Vote of Thanks.