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Even as the demand for semiconductors is increasing, there is a need for increasing and proper funding for nanotechnology in India, according to Dr Sangeeta Semwal, a scientist at the Ministry of Electronics and IT.
Addressing a session on "Focus on Funding" at the "Bengaluru India Nano Summit 2022" on Tuesday here she said the demand for semiconductors is set to rise at 30% compound annual growth rate by 2025. She said every component will require nanotechnology and with the government of India approving an investment of Rs 76,000 crore on a semiconductor mission, India is set to rapid strides to develop a nanotechnology ecosystem. She said India has seven centres of excellence where the necessary platform is being provided for designers, fabricators in the nanotechnology space not only to researchers but also to outside entrepreneurs. These centres were also imparting training to researchers and are open for commercialization. Dr Semwal said 43% of the researchers had gone overseas after making use of the facility and added that a new 'Idea to Innovation' programme has been launched in September 2021 to help start-ups. She said a number of patents had been filed and technology transfers were also happening even as some start-ups have begun to generate revenue. She said 17 technologies will get added due to the programme. On the funding initiatives, Dr Semwal said there was a huge funding support requirement in the long-term but added that combined funding from various ministries is becoming available. There is a strong start-up ecosystem in Karnataka thanks to the Government of Karnataka's initiatives to provide funding and support to entrepreneurs, Champa E of the Dept of IT-BT, Karnataka government said. She said the Elevate programme, a flagship scheme of the government is providing incubation funding and supporting entrepreneurs to commercialise besides extending fiscal incentives including reimbursements and holidays on repayments without becoming a equity partner in the new venture. Champa said the government has also set up another incubation support centre 'Incense' in association with the Indian Institute of Science with state-of-the-art lab and fabrication facility. Champa said the government has been continuing to extend support at various levels right from the college level including funding the student projects. In his address, Ganesh Thyagarajan of McLaren Strategic Ventures said newer technologies will generate next generation jobs and nanotechnology is emerging as an inexpensive and a highly productive option for companies to gain scalability. Prof Srinivasan Raghavan of IISc also spoke during the event. (ANI)
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