Modern India has focused heavily on industrial technology as a way to lift its people out of poverty and to develop into an economic power.  Central to these aims is the development and use of Indian industrial technology. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research helps make this happen by providing a bureaucratic home for the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).  Through the CSIR, the department supports 37 national laboratories and large numbers of research scientists.  It also attempts to foster the development of Indian industrial technology in other ways.

Under the British Raj, India was rich in materials but poor in technology. Raw inputs like cotton would leave India for Britain; they’d be returned as value-added goods like finished textiles, with all the profit going to the empire. Technology, it was thought, would be the keystone to a brighter Indian economic and social future upon Independence. 

In 1942, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was established.  Over the decades, it has been involved in such innovations as: the ink for voters at elections; milk for babies made from indigenous buffaloes; low-cost pesticides for Indian agriculture’s Green Revolution; parallel processing supercomputers; expanded tea production in Himachal Pradesh; and many other technologies. 

In 1985, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research was created by presidential notification.  Under its rubric, the CSIR finds high-tech solutions for industrial, commercial, and governmental applications

The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research promotes industrial research to sustain and grow Indian technology.  The vast majority of its work happens through the autonomous body, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.  Through the CSIR, the department funds 37 national laboratories to the tune of Rs 2247 crore ($411.31 million USD) in 2013-14, making up more than 60% of the department’s overall budget.  These laboratories cover physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and information sciences.  Some of them include: the Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute; the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute; the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology; the National Institute of Oceanography; and the Structural Engineering Research Centre.

Outside of its work through the CSIR, the department recognizes in-house industrial research and development organizations.  It promotes the development of industrial technology.  It supports consultants and their profession through the Consultancy Development Centre.  It also hosts two public enterprises, Central Electronics Limited, which focuses on the development of solar power and other electronics technologies, and the National Research Development Corporation, which seeks to boost technologies produced by national research and development bodies.

Attached Bodies or Autonomous Bodies

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

The CSIR is an autonomous industrial research and development body. CSIR consumes most of the department’s budget.  Through the CSIR’s budget, the department funds 37 research laboratories and additional industrial technology research sites.  These laboratories cover physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and information sciences.

Consultancy Development Centre (CDC):

The CDC is an autonomous organization funded by the department.  It supports India’s consultancy industry.

Most of the department’s budget goes to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a publicly funded autonomous research and development body.  Rs. 3445.50 crore ($630.98 million USD), or over 95% of the department’s budget, is allocated to the CSIR.  Of this, Rs. 2247 crore ($411.31 million USD) is destined for India’s national laboratories.  Another Rs. 605 crore ($110.75 million USD) is set aside from administration of the CSIR.  Finally, Rs. 285 crore ($52.17 million USD) is allocated for funding individual researchers and other funding to promote the development of scientists.

CSIR’s Autocratic Environment

A CSIR scientist and a CSIR consultant issued a report on the conditions in which the Council’s scientists toil.  Shiva Ayyadurai, who had been appointed only months earlier, felt that scientists at the CSIR work “in a medieval, feudal environment” and that “the system required a major overhaul because innovation cannot take place in this environment.”  While not without his backers, Ayyadurai was summarily rebuked, having his position and Council-funded housing taken away from him. The Director General of the CSIR took the position that the issue was compensation, not the report, in throwing Ayyadurai on the street. 

Report Row Ousts Top Indian Scientist (by K.S. Jayaraman, Nature)

Scientist Fired from CSIR Cries Foul (by Anika Gupta, Mint)

CSIR Asks Sacked Indian American Scientist to Vacate Home (IANS)

Encourage Product Development

In October 2009, a CSIR scientist and a CSIR consultant, Shiva Ayyadurai, issued a report proposing the use of a holding company to spin off products based on CSIR patents.  The report suggested creating an independent private entity, CSIR-Tech, to focus on product development, be professionally managed, use experienced professionals in converting technology to products, and financially incentivize employees.  Due to a controversial chapter where authors critiqued the culture at CSIR, including the behavior of leaders, CSIR higher ups did not receive the report kindly and the original authors were taken off of the case.  However, discussion of how best to develop CSIR technology into products remains live.  In 2011, CSIR-Tech was registered as an independent company, but as of 2012, it remained fairly inactive.

CSIR-Tech Path Forward (by Shiva Ayyadurai and Deepak Sardana, CSIR-Tech)

CSIR Tech Pvt. Ltd.: Its Controversial Past and Its Uncertain Future (by Prashant Reddy, SPICY IP)

About CSIR-Tech (CSIR-Tech Pvt. Ltd.)

Open Access

For several years, the CSIR has been pushing to make its scientists’ papers available free of charge.  Not everyone thinks this is a good idea.

For Open Access

Some Indian scientists who publish their work abroad have complained they often can’t access their own papers in India. Others have accused publishers of trying to exploit their monopoly position and demanding unreasonable prices for granting electronic access to research resources, The head of the CSIR’s unit for R&D of Information products says that without doing so, it would cost CSIR Rs. 50 crore ($9.15 million) per day or $15 to $35 per downloaded paper.  As a result, CSIR has issued a mandate that all papers published by CSIR laboratories and supported by a grant from CSIR will either have to be published in an open access journal or will be stored after publication in an electronic repository. 

Against Open Access

Others, however, don’t see the point to open access publishing and worry that it will enable the violation of intellectual property laws. In the journal Nature, Raghavendra Gadhakar of the Centre for Ecological Sciences, argues that “in the developing world, this approach does more harm than good.”

Open-access More Harm than Good in Developing World  (by Raghavendra Gadhakar, Nature)

CSIR to Create Open Access Repositories (Express News Service, Indian Express)

CSIR Open Access Mandate (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) (pdf)

India Debates Open Access (by Elie Dolgin, The Scientist)

CSIR and DST Institutes Gear up to Adopt Open Access (National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources)

Vayalar Ravi

Since October 28, 2012, Vayalar Ravi has served as the Union Cabinet Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs. He served briefly as the Union Cabinet Minister of Science and Technology, from August 10, 2012 to October 28, 2012, after the death of his predecessor, Vilasrao Desmukh.

Born in 1937, Ravi is a career politician from Alappuzha, Kerala.  He has been active at the state and national levels for over six decades.  As a member of the Kerala Student Union in the 1950s, Ravi was a Congress Party activist.  Ravi was educated in Kerala at S.D. College in Alappuzha, and at Maharajas College and Law College in Ernakulam. 

Educated in Kerala at S.D. College in Alappuzha, and at Maharajas College and Law College in Ernakulam, Ravi became President of the Congress’s Kerala youth wing in 1965.  He was later elected to Congress’s Kerala wing and the powerful All India Congress Committee.  In 1972, he became a member of the Congress Working Committee and was elected to India’s Lok Sabha in 1971 and 1977.

Following Indira Gandhi’s Emergency at the national level, Ravi retreated to Kerala politics.  He served as Home Minister of the state from 1982 to 1986 before falling out with the Chief Minister. In 1987, Ravi was elected to the Kerala Assembly.  In 1992, Ravi was elected President of the Kerala wing of the All India Congress Committee. 

In the 1990s, Ravi again moved into national politics.  In 1996, he was elected to India’s upper house, the Rajya Sabha, and later re-elected.  In 2001, Ravi reached the powerful post of general secretary of the All India Congress Committee. 

As a senior Congress Party official, Ravi has held a number of ministerial posts in the two UPA governments that have held power since 2004.  Most notably, from January 29, 2006 onwards, Ravi has served as Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, the government’s portfolio for addressing issues that affect Non-Resident Indians.  In addition, at various times, Ravi has also held portfolios for: Parliamentary Affairs; Civil Aviation; Science and Technology; Earth Sciences; and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.  In early 2013, Ravi endured a scandal over sexist remarks he made to a female journalist that were caught on camera.

Both of Ravi’s parents were involved in politics, with his mother engaging in Congress Party organizing activities.  His wife, Mercy, is a member of the Kerala Assembly.  The pair have three children.

Official Biography

Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh

Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh was the Minister of Science and Technology from July 12, 2011 to August 10, 2012.  He left due to poor health, which resulted in his imminent death.

Deshmukh was born on May 26, 1945 in Babhalgaon, Maharashtra.  He received a B.Sc. from Garware College, and subsequently a BA from Pune University.  Deshmukh completed his education at I.L.S. Law College, also in Pune, with an L.L.B.  He was married in 1975 and had three children with his wife, Vaishali Deshmukh.

He became involved in politics in 1974, serving as a member of the Zilla Panchayat in Osmanabad. From 1980 to 1995 and 1999 to 2009, Deshmukh was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.  From October 1999 to January 2003 and again from November 2004 to December 2008, Deshmukh served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

In August 2009, Deshmukh was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time.  He was appointed Union Cabinet Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, serving in that post from May 2009 to January 2011.  From January 19, 2011 to July 12, 2011, he held the portfolios for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.   From July 12, 2011 until August 10, 2012, Deshmukh was Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences.

Deshmukh was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2012 despite his ongoing health issues.  From June 26, 2012 to August 10, 2012, Deshmukh also held the portfolio for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises.  On August 10, 2012, he became too ill to carry on; he passed away on August 14, 2012.

Official Biography