Industry must be brought into research and development projects from the very beginning if India wants to turn promising technologies into market-ready products faster, according to Union Minister of State (I/C) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Jitendra Singh.

 

“The commercial arm should be in association with the lab right from day one," he said on Sunday.

 

Speaking at an interaction with CEOs, CSOs and COOs of industry at the 6th RISE Conclave at CSIR-IICB, Kolkata, Singh called for a fundamental change in the way industry and research institutions collaborate. He said potential commercial partners should be identified and brought into projects at the planning stage, allowing market requirements and practical considerations to influence technology development from the outset.

 

Responding to an industry proposal to involve commercial partners at the laboratory stage, Singh said early participation would enable industry to contribute on market dynamics, product design, environmental sustainability, supply-chain requirements and commercial viability.

 

The objective, he said, is to prevent technologies from reaching the market only to discover that they require costly modifications to meet actual user needs.

 

The interaction quickly moved beyond broad policy discussions, with industry representatives putting specific technology requirements and challenges before the Minister.

 

Critical minerals and indigenous technology figured prominently in the discussions. Industry representatives raised issues involving rare-earth extraction, permanent magnets, recycling, lithium beneficiation and the recovery of strategic minerals including vanadium and titanium.

 

Participants sought technological support from CSIR laboratories to scale these technologies, while the possibility of exploring rare-earth and other critical-mineral resources in eastern India was also discussed.

 

Singh stressed the need to make greater use of capabilities being developed across CSIR laboratories and other government scientific agencies.

 

Industry representatives also raised issues involving space technology and specialised optical components. Singh sought details on the concerns raised and indicated that the space-related matter could be taken up with the Department of Space.

 

On regulatory issues, Singh said steps had already been taken to simplify regulations and invited industry to submit further specific suggestions for consideration.

 

Singh also proposed exploring a common R&D facility for the foundry sector, with industry coming together to define its requirements while the government facilitates the platform.

 

He said industries were free to jointly create such a mechanism and urged steel-sector companies to work together.

 

“We are ready to provide the forum. You come, all of you from all the different steel industries, as representatives, come as a group and say, ‘Provide us a forum.’ We’ll provide,” he said.

 

Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals raised the possibility of reviving indigenous production of anti-snake venom, noting that eastern India has distinct snake species and consequently specific regional requirements.

 

Singh advised the company to engage with the Health Ministry of West Bengal and stressed that any such initiative must be aligned with scientific and public-health requirements.

 

A startup working in the venom and snakebite sector subsequently presented technologies aimed at identifying the species responsible for a snakebite and developing new antivenom solutions.

 

Singh welcomed the innovation but underlined that such technologies would require rigorous scientific validation and clinical trials before wider adoption. Patient safety, he stressed, could not be compromised, and the innovators were directed towards the West Bengal Health Ministry for the required validation.

 

Throughout the interaction, Singh urged industry representatives to move from general discussions to specific, actionable requirements and assured them that government agencies and scientific institutions would help establish the necessary linkages.

 

In his concluding remarks, he said, “You tell us what we can do for you or what we are not doing for you, or what we can do better for you,” signalling the government's willingness to respond to clearly defined industry needs.

 

He also stressed that industry engagement should not be limited to formal events.

 

“If there are further inputs, you are always free. Not that you have to wait for a formal occasion like this,” he said.

 

The 6th RISE Conclave ultimately underscored a clear message from the government: industry should no longer be treated merely as the final destination for publicly developed technology. 

 

Instead, it should be brought in at the beginning of the R&D cycle, working alongside scientific institutions while the government acts as a facilitator to move promising technologies from the laboratory to the market—and eventually to wider societal use.