India needs more and better innovations for growth that is faster, sustainable, more inclusive and has a competitive edge, Vice President Hamid Ansari said on Saturday.
"We will need more, and better, innovations in order to remain competitive as we aspire for faster, sustainable and inclusive growth," Ansari said while inaugurating JSS Science and Technology University in Mysuru in Karnataka.
Building a developed society requires nurturing of a scientific temper in the general public and focusing on the study of the basic sciences for meeting domestic requirements, he said.
For all this to happen, he called for a conducive environment where "enquiry and evidence form the basis of rational choices."
Calling for local solutions to address the problem of poverty, farm productivity, water conservation and climate change, Ansari said it is important for India to be a science innovation hub to achieve self-sufficiency in the field of technology.
"We cannot hope to be a great power without a qualitatively superior scientific and technological prowess," he said underlining the need for scientific and technological advancements.