Government to give a Rs1,000 crore boost to nanotechnology
24 Aug 2007
Mumbai: The government would give a big push to nanotechnology, which has potential to lift the quality of life of the poor, C N R Rao, chairman of the scientific advisory council to the prime minister, said.
The government has made a budgetary provision of Rs1,000-crore to promote the sector, Rao told a function to announce the dates of Bangalore Nano 2007.
"Nanotechnology and science have many potentially valuable societal applications for poor people, including the creation of more efficient filtering systems for producing clean drinking water and the provision of cheap and clean energy (through more efficient solar cells)," he said.
The Nano Science and Technology Initiative (NSTI) in India has so far funded about 100 basic science projects worth Rs60 crore. About Rs20 crore has been released for establishing six centres for nano science at institutions such as the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and different IITs.
Bangalore Nano 2007 will be held on December 6 and 7.