Addressing the 40th Foundation Day of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) here, Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced the indigenous development of drug “Paracetamol” , commonly used in pain, fever, etc. by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The minister elaborated that the CSIR has developed indigenous technology to produce paracetamol, widely used as a pain reliever and fever reducer.This innovation aims to make India self-reliant in paracetamol manufacturing, reducing dependence on imported ingredients, he added. Karnataka-based Satya Deeptha Pharmaceuticals Ltd will utilise this breakthrough to produce affordable paracetamol domestically. Currently, India imports the key raw materials for paracetamol from various countries. Thus, the CSIR initiative not only addresses this dependency but also aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) vision.

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Dr. Jitendra Singh, in his address, traced back the history of DSIR and its contribution for the past decade and recalled its mandate to focus on synergising collaboration with industry partners to scale up innovation and foster technological growth. He also remembered the birth of CSIR which is a much older organisation aimed at India’s scientific and industrial progress through research.

The DSIR Foundation Day marked 16 more technology transfers: 9 CSIR-CSIO Chennai and 6 from CSIR-CEERI, Pilani the technology transfer between CSIR and MSME units registered under LAGHU UDYOG BHARATI under the campaign 100 days 100 technology program. LAGHU UDYOG BHARATI is a registered all India organization of MSME in India since 1994 with more than 60,000 registered members. So far 57 CSIR technologies have been transferred under this campaign and today 16 more are transferred.

The technologies transferred by CSIO are in the area of design and development of scientific and industrial instruments with IoT enabled technologies, while transfers by CEERI are in the area of healthcare and societal implications. One MoU is signed between CSIO and ELCIA, Bengaluru towards mutual collaboration in development of sensors. Speaking on the pace of technological prowess achieved by India in the past decade, Dr. Jitendra Singh credited the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has been a champion of technological development and utilizing its potential for the benefit of the Country.

He underscored that even before we had the scientific acumen what lacked was the prioritisation of innovation and entrepreneurship. After 2014, the taboo was broken and government and non-government sectors collaborated on a large scale. The success in the space sector is the evidence of it with now Startups launching satellites from Sriharikota.