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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 000942 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/EGC, AND SCA/INS 
STATE FOR STAS 
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS, MLUECK 
HHS PASS TO NIH 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
STATE FOR EEB/DAVID HENRY 
PASS TO MAS/DAS/JESTRADA 
PASS TO MAC/DAS/HVINEYARD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPL TNGD TPHY EIND EAGR TRGY TBIO IN
SUBJECT: INDIAN NANOTECHNOLOGY, BABY STEPS 
 
REF A:  06 NEW DELHI 3468 
REF B:  06 NEW DELHI 3763 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY: The Ministry of Science and Technology's Department 
of Science and Technology (DST), the Confederation of Indian 
Industries (CII), and the Tamil Nadu Technology Development 
Promotion Council, sponsored a conclave in Delhi April 14 and 15 to 
identify industry opportunities in Indian nanotechnology.  The event 
revealed that despite massive government funding and some progress 
in academic capacity building, the effort remains scattered and 
collaboration between industry and academia is still elusive.  Much 
of the existing research appears focused on material applications 
for energy and coatings; research into health and agriculture 
applications and more advanced technologies such as nanoelectronics 
have been slow to begin.  Participants uniformly agreed that more 
research needs to be done to understand the safety and unintended 
impact of nanomaterials on human health and the environment.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
GOI SPENDING MONEY, INDUSTRY COLLABORATION MISSING 
 
¶2.  (U) Since initiating the nano mission in 2001, the Government of 
India (GOI) has spent about INR 7.2 billion (USD 144 million), 
funded 175 projects, established 11 centers for nanotechnology 
development, started 15 nanotechnology masters degree programs, had 
more than 1000 students registered for PhDs in nanotechnology, and 
is planning to develop new dedicated nanotechnology institutes at 
Mohali, Bangalore and Kolkata.  The Eleventh Five Year Plan 
allocated INR 10 billion (USD 200 million) to nanotechnology 
initiatives - 48 percent for basic research and capacity building 
and 52 percent for technological applications including funding 
industries and new ventures. 
 
¶3.  (U) DST Secretary Dr. Ramasami and Dr. V. Rao Aiyagari, Director 
of the DST's Nano Mission, both spoke at the conclave regarding GOI 
efforts in the field, but the Department of Information Technology 
and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, both of which fund 
heavily in nanotechnology for photonics, light emitting diodes, 
solar energy, and nanoelectronics, were noticeably absent from the 
event.  Dr. Dipankar Banerjee, Chief R&D Controller at India's 
Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), said that DRDO 
was working on a wide range of nanotechnology-enabled technologies 
in energy, photonics, high energy materials, sensors (especially for 
identifying chemical weapons), bio nanotechnology, propulsion 
technologies, and carbon nanotube-based applications. 
 
¶4.  (U) Dr. Ramasami said that the only way to achieve success in 
nanotechnology was to overcome India's industry and academia 
stovepipes and encourage collaboration.  Despite this professed 
view, it is unclear how DST intends to achieve an effective mix of 
the two.  Very few industries were present at the conclave and most 
attended primarily as observers.  Dr. Vidyasagar, Chairman of the 
CII Nanotechnology group and Senior Vice president of Tata 
Consultancy Services, told ESTFSN that the industry saw significant 
potential opportunity in nanotechnology but was slow to pursue it 
because of the high capital costs.  He said that although roughly 60 
Indian companies are involved in nanotechnology, larger-scale 
industry efforts and government financial assistance were needed to 
see significant improvements. 
 
NANOMATERIALS FOR ENERGY 
 
 
NEW DELHI 00000942  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶5.  (U) Several presentations were focused on efforts to identify 
energy and green solutions using nanomaterials.  Dr. Sonde, 
Executive Vice President of Thermax limited, mentioned that his 
company was focused on solar thermal concentrator technologies and 
hoped to have a product in the market in a year or so.  Dr. Giriraj 
Niyati, Corporate R&D Vice President for Moser Baer, said they were 
actively collaborating with companies in the U.S., Europe, and Japan 
on nanotechnology-enabled solutions for silicon solar cells, 
concentrators, and thin film solar cell technologies.  He said they 
had invested USD 2 billion in a project to develop, by the end of 
2010, solar panels capable of producing one gigawatt of power per 
year.  Dr. Neeleshwar from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University 
is researching energy generation using thermoelectric materials. 
The Innovation Centre for Applied Nanotechnology has developed over 
50 environmentally friendly nanomaterial-enabled paints and coatings 
for application on walls, glasses, wood, and ceramics, according to 
CEO Dr. Arup Kumar Chatterjee. 
 
 
AGRICULTURE AND HEALTHCARE RESEARCH SLOW TO START 
 
¶6.  (U) Conclave attendees suggested that agricultural-related 
nanotechnology research was still in an exploratory phase and 
suffered from a lack of interdisciplinary activity.  Dr. Rajendran, 
Director of the Nano Science and Technology Center at the K. S. 
Rangasamy College of Technology, said that their center was focused 
on developing nanoparticles from natural sources and claimed to have 
grown enhanced quality maize using 20 nanometer silicon dioxide 
particles produced from rice husk.  According to Principal Scientist 
Dr. Kalpana Sastry, the National Academy of Agricultural Research 
Management has developed a database of all nanotechnology-enabled 
agricultural technologies and practices to encourage collaboration. 
Indian Agricultural Research Institute National Fellow Dr. Prasanna 
indicated that technologies of interest include DNA finger printing 
or bar-coding, gene and protein expression profiling, genome 
sequencing, biotic and abiotic stress studies, plant and animal 
disease diagnostic tests, post harvest preservation and management 
technologies, soil and water management, and precise and smart 
fertilizer delivery capabilities. 
 
¶7.  (U) Health applications have also been very slow to emerge.  Dr. 
¶S. Mokkapati, Deputy Director General of the Nano Medicine Cell at 
the GOI's Indian Council for Medical Research, said that activity 
was at a very early stage due to concern about toxicological effects 
and a lack of collaboration between medical institutions and other 
researchers. 
 
CONCERNED ABOUT SAFETY 
 
¶8.  (U) Participants repeatedly insisted on the need for more 
research into the safety of nanomaterials and their potential 
unintended effects on human health and the environment.  Dr. 
Ramasami and Dr. Rao mentioned that DST was open to collaboration on 
identifying hazards associated with nanotechnology and ways to 
monitor them.  Dr. Banerjee said that a more concentrated effort on 
toxicity was needed before DRDO would seriously consider 
nonmaterial-based applications. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Few of the presenters provided any specific 
concrete examples of their nanotechnology developments, and most 
repeated the same broad calls for what could or should be done that 
have been voiced by Indian scientists and policy makers for the last 
 
NEW DELHI 00000942  003 OF 003 
 
 
several years.  While health and safety concerns are legitimate, 
they are not the main culprit behind India's lack of significant 
progress.  The barriers to effective nanotechnology development in 
India that were identified by ESTOffs in 2006 (reftels) remain 
barriers three years later.  Without a change in the Indian cultural 
attitudes and business models that tend to focus on low-value added 
services and products, family controlled businesses, and fear of 
failure, no amount of funding by the GOI will succeed in making 
India competitive in the realm of nanotechnology.  END COMMENT 
 
BURLEIGH