Javadekar stresses on R&D for sustainability

Stressing on the importance of research and development for creating sustainable practices, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday said that India is not an 'IT-superpower' but an 'IT-labour contractor' as it lacks innovation.

"We say that we are IT-superpower but we are not. We are IT-labour contractors. We have not come up with Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, any new operating system or real new products."

"Indian industries must start investing more in research and development. Unless we research and come out with solutions, we do not get the benefit. Industrial progress should be based on it," the Minister said while speaking at a CII summit on Sustainability.

He said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is the recognition of the power of research and technology.

"PM going to meet Zuckerberg is recognition of power of research and technology," he said, adding that Apple is also an example of sustained efforts for creating something new.

The Minister said that China who is assembling it get very little of the benefit.

"What India and China have been doing all these years to get to this position is copying. Assembling does not give the benefit of research. That is not a sustainable way," he said.

He said that Climate Change and Sustainability have become business for western countries as they have developed new technologies for it.

"Green coal technology, climate technology, sustainable development practices, each of them has been developed by somebody else. We are just importing. Unless we make and we have them , we will not progress," he said.