Need to fast-track clearance of patents filed by Govt related bodies: Minister Piyush Goyal

New Delhi, Nov 5 (KNN) Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal directed the officials to fast-track the clearance of patents filed by Government related bodies, in a time-bound manner.

Goyal during a review meeting of Textile Research Associations (TRA) on Friday in New Delhi asked to explore the possibilities of merging TRAs or fostering partnerships among TRAs engaged in similar kinds of research in order to bring synergy among these bodies.

He also instructed that the quarterly engagement of TRAs with the Ministry be institutionalized.

The commerce minister also laid emphasis on the need to encourage startups and young scientists in the niche areas like Technical Textiles. He asked TRA to submit proposals to the Ministry for any support they require to reach world-class levels of robust state-of-the-art labs, and modern machinery, amongst others.

In consonance with the vision to foster innovation and drive science-centric sustainable growth, Goyal suggested creating a special fund to increase the number of scientists in TRAs.

The Minister pointed out the need to assess the projects till their last-mile success and added that the projects may be sanctioned accordingly to make them commercially viable.

He noted that for medical textiles the research is incomplete without clinical trials. Therefore, costs associated with clinical trials may also be considered while recommending future projects in Technical Textiles.

During the review meeting, presentations were made by the TRAs, highlighting their performance over the last decade which included their research projects, patents status, machinery and equipment statistics and strategies for the future.

The review meeting was attended by VK Saraswat, Member (Science and Technology), NITI Aayog, Prof. Ajay K. Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India and representative of 8 TRAs (affiliated bodies under the Ministry of Textile), namely, Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA) Ahmedabad, The Bombay Textile Research Association (BTRA) Mumbai, Man-Made Textiles Research Association (MANTRA) Surat, Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) Ghaziabad, Synthetic & Art Silk Mills Research Association (SASMIRA) Mumbai, South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) Coimbatore, Wool Research Association (WRA), Thane, and Indian Jute Industries’ Research Association (IJIRA) Kolkata.  (KNN Bureau)