No point doing R&D just for the sake of doing it; linkage to marketability must: Steel Minister

New Delhi, Dec 2 (KNN) There is no point in doing Research and Development just for the sake of doing it, said Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh adding that there has to be a linkage to marketability of projects being undertaken.

R&D for developing new technologies and products has to be driven by the future value of the outcomes, stressed the Minister.

Singh said, “Till the time, the R&D in steel industry in India attains international levels; we should go in for international collaborations and adopt the best and most efficient technologies.”

R&D should not be limited to little tinkering here and there to improve quality and so on, he emphasized added that one must think big in terms of transformational technologies and new breakthroughs.

He pointed PM’s speech in which he said that to compete in a globalized world, India needs to aggressively push for path-breaking innovations and get them patented.

Singh said this in a review meeting with senior officials from Ministry of Steel and its PSUs.

The Minister of State for Steel Vishnu Deo Sai and the Secretary Steel Aruna Sharma were among those present on the occasion.

Singh was reviewing the progress of Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI), which has been registered as an institution to lead the research and development in steel in the country.

He advised that the institution should grow as a single umbrella body for all steel-related research and development in India. It should set up a body for promoting higher education in steel making and related disciplines, he added.

Steel Minister also shared that the Ministry has proposed to consider expenditure on R&D as a part of CSR expenditure, which if implemented would encourage companies to do research on cost-effective, environment-friendly and energy-efficient technologies and processes. (With PIB Inputs)