T’puram: India transformed over the past decade into an emerging deep-tech powerhouse, driven by bold policy interventions, strategic investments and a growing push for technological self-reliance, said NITI Aayog member Abhay Karandikar on Sunday.Delivering the convocation address at 14th convocation of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram, Karandikar said the country was being positioned for a future-ready economy under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi.He told the graduating students that they had an opportunity to help build an India that was both technologically advanced and environmentally sustainable. In recent years, he said, the national focus had shifted sharply towards achieving excellence in innovation.Karandikar said the Anusandhan National Research Foundation, set up by the govt, aims to promote research and development and foster a culture of research and innovation across universities, institutions and R&D laboratories.“Deep tech requires significant research and development, but it also requires dedicated efforts to translate research happening in academia and R&D labs into commercially viable products,” he said.He said the govt had created a Rs 1 lakh crore research, development and innovation fund to strengthen the country’s innovation ecosystem and accelerate growth in strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, deep tech, energy transition and climate tech.Karandikar said he had been fortunate to be involved in operationalizing three major initiatives — the Anusandhan National Research Foundation, the RDI fund and the National Quantum Mission. These initiatives, he said, were expected to have a lasting impact on India’s science and technology ecosystem.Stressing the importance of fundamental science, he said it remained at the heart of all technological evolution. Artificial intelligence is rooted in mathematics and computer science, quantum technology in physics, biotechnology in chemistry, and climate science in the integration of multiple domains, he said.Institutions such as IISER, he added, play a vital role in nurturing curiosity-driven research that fuels breakthroughs.S Murty Srinivasula, director of IISER Thiruvananthapuram, conferred degrees upon 210 BS-MS students, 58 PhD students, 21 Integrated PhD students, 28 MS (research) students, 6 BSc students, and 78 MSc students.
