BANGALORE: The establishment of 200 Centres of Excellence and extended long-term grants for infrastructure and personnel has been recommended by the Science Advisory Council to Prime Minister, to promote excellence in science, said Prof C N R Rao on Sunday.The council has further recommended performance-based grants to institutions and universities and also proposed link-creation between the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and other colleges. Also proposed are major grants for research in the areas of energy, health, agriculture and environment.“If India is to position itself as a global leader in science, we need to invest 2.5 times the current allocation for the field,” said Prof Rao. He informed that on December 18, the Science Advisory Council placed several recommendations before Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. “While the 11th five year plan earmarked Rs 72,000 crore for science, the 12th five year plan should see an investment of Rs 2.2 lakh crore that includes a substantial contribution from the private sector,” M K Bhan, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology told reporters.V M Katoch, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research said, “The average productivity of Indian scientists is at par with scientists around the world. We just have to scale-up the output,” said V M Katoch, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).T Ramasami, Secretary of Department of Science and Technology elucidated the need to keep science in the foray at all times. “Our economy may be driven by technology, but we must not forget that technology is driven by science,” Ramasami said.
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