Posted: June 11, 2009

Nanotechnology partnership between Confederation of Indian Industry and University of Calcutta

(Nanowerk News) Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Eastern Region today partnered with University of Calcutta for providing industry inputs in the field of R&D for Nanotechnology.
For the past few years, Nanotechnology has been gathering momentum in India. There is an established government funding and a number of industries are showing interest for coming out with Nano-based products. There is commendable research work going on in many countries. Nanotechnology is being applied in a wide range of industries such as healthcare, textiles, agricultures, IT, materials, telecom, chemical, automotive and energy production. Calcutta University has set up Centre for Research in Nanotechnology and Nanoscience (CRNN).
To explore opportunity of industry-university collaboration, University of Calcutta along with CII, organized an interactive session on "Nanotechnology: University Industry Interface: Creating Capabilities for Tomorrow" today in Kolkata. Dr. Debesh Das, the Honorable Minister in Charge, Department of Information Technology, Government of West Bengal, graced the occasion along with various other eminent dignitaries, both from academia and industry, like Dr. D.J. Chattopadhyay, Director, CRNN & Pro- Vice Chancellor, University of Calcutta, Prof. Suranjan Das, Vice Chancellor, University of Calcutta, Dr. Arup Chatterjee, CEO, I-CanNano, Dr. G Sundararajan, Director, ARCI and Mr. Mukul Somany , Chairman, CII, Eastern Region.
Addressing the present audience, Prof. Suranjan Das, Vice Chancellor, University of Calcutta, said that instead of staying confined within the boundaries of classrooms , interfaces like this between the academia and industry have a major role to play as they represent a dual recognition – a recognition of excellence that is being attained by the University of Calcutta in the realm of research and learning process in the field of Nano science and Technology and also the recognition by the University community of the growing importance of the collaboration of industry and academics in promoting science and technology in the country.
Talking on the occasion, Dr. Debesh Das, the Honorable Minister in Charge, Department of Information Technology, Government of West Bengal, lauded this initiative and assured that the Government of West Bengal is very much eager to get maximum output from researches in this field and will provide requisite support system to every possible extent in this regard.
In his address, Dr. D.J. Chattopadhyay, Director, Centre for Research in Nanotechnology and Nanoscience (CRNN) & Pro- Vice Chancellor, University of Calcutta, informed that the Centre for Research in Nanotechnology and Nanoscience will be starting a PhD program both for students as well as for people from the industry and to facilitate operations like this representations from Industry Bodies like CII has been kept in the Governing Body of the Center for valued industry R&D inputs.
Apart from this , the University of Calcutta has also set up particular specialized groups in this field which has taken off with a collaboration with the Department of Law to set up a framework of rules and regulatory guidelines for the research in the sector of Nanotechnology. Recommendations in this direction have also been placed before the Government of India by the University.
He also informed about the forthcoming project of the Business Incubation Cell to be established shortly. This Business Incubation Cell has been planned to provide support to large and medium business efforts in the field of Nanoscience and Technology by making infrastructure available to companies to start up, preferably with the faculty member / members taking the lead in the formation of the companies. This incubation will be a temporary intermediate stage for the formation of the Company.
The Cell, on the other hand, will provide incentives for the faculties to innovate and also to enable students to gain hands on experience in a hi-tech industrial set-up. It will be also be a training ground for budding entrepreneurs. In this occasion he also announced that, the University of Calcutta has already been approached with a joint proposal by West Bengal Green Technology Development Council and West Bengal Department of Science and Technology to set up an incubation cell for the synthesis of photo-voltic cell in collaboration with an University in USA and a MoU will be signed very shortly in this regard.
Dr. Arup Chatterjee, CEO, I-Can Nano, said that if the last century was the Century of IT, then the present century is of NT, i.e. of Nano Technology. He projected the huge potential of the Nanotechnology in the coming years. According to him, after 4 years in 2009, the Nanotechnology industry will be almost a trillion dollar market which will require about 2 million nanotechnology workers thus belying the factor of employment constriction. He mentioned that by using the nanotechnology, the existing products will go up the value chain to a higher end.
Dr. G Sundararajan, Director, ARCI, in his speech made reference to the fact that so far industry, especially the entrepreneur or technocrat driven companies, have been really forthcoming in adopting nanotechnology in their operations which has also encouraged the researchers to develop industry specific products.
Mr. Mukul Somany, Chairman, CII, Eastern Region in his inaugural speech informed that while the market for nanotechnology in manufacturing goods is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 33% during the period from 2007 to 2015, that for the consumer products is projected to grow at an AAGR of 9.4% from 2005 to 2010. According to him, the global spending on nanotechnology grew by 29% in 2006 with government share standing at 52% followed by corporate and venture capitalist spending and CII after launching its nanotechnology initiative in 2002 under CII National Committee on Technology at national level is working towards to create a growth environment for industry through knowledge exchange missions, awareness program, workshops, market research and other range of services in the nanotechnology sector. As Mr. Somany informed, CII is working presently at the larger arena of international community through initiatives like Indo-US High Technology Core Group (HTCG) and India-UK-JETCO (Joint Economic & Trade Committee) program.
Source: IBNS