Govt invests Rs 500 crore a year for research on electronics: DeitY Secy

New Delhi, Mar 10 (KNN) The government is investing Rs 500 crore per year on research related to electronics products, said Aruna Sharma, Secretary, Department of Electronics and IT (DEITY) during a conference.

NASSCOM Foundation on Wednesday organized the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Leadership Conference.

Speaking on the occasion, Sharma said, “The government is investing Rs 500 crore per year on research related to electronics products. The research is carried out at incubation centres associated with IITs, Indian Institute of Science and other premier institutes.

The research is taking place for medical electronics, nano electronics etc at the incubation centre.  If any of you want to invest in that particular sector, this is where we under CSR are looking for a handholding,” she added.

She also handed a list of products which are completely commercialized to Nasscom and also of those products, which are on the verge of being commercialized and the third one where they are still under the incubation centres. 

During the conference, a deal between Deity and Nasscom Foundation was also announced, wherein the foundation has been entrusted upon the responsibility of sensitizing citizens across the country on e-waste, its health and environmental hazards and its responsible disposal.

The foundation announced that it has secured grants in excess of Rs 50 crore for financial year 2016-17. The foundation, being the industry partner to government for the National Digital Literacy Mission, has been able to reach its target of over 100 centres across India for the year and aims to make over 75,000 households become digitally literate. 

Speaking at the occasion, Dr Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, NASSCOM Foundation, said, “NASSCOM Foundation is aware of the responsibility entrusted to it by the industry and the government and is taking all the steps in the right direction to enable the best use of the industry CSR funds. I am proud to state that the coming year will see the foundation spend increase five folds in its attempt to come closer to its goal of creating a truly inclusive India by using technology for creating a positive social change.” 

Shrikant Sinha, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation said,” Our ongoing partnership with so many  corporates  is a great example of how CSR money can be used for the benefit of millions across the country – improving their livelihood and income prospects, creating a real impact in the community. It’s a great way to achieve inclusion in society.” (KNN Bureau)