Broad science, technology pact with US soon: Sibal

India will sign a comprehensive umbrella science and technology agreement with the United States in October, said Union science and technology & ocean development minister Kapil Sibal.

Speaking at a seminar on 'Science and Technology Opportunities and Indo-US Relations', organised by Observer Research Foundation in Bangalore on Friday, Sibal said: "This agreement has been in the works for the last 10 years and we have now sorted out all issues and we should be signing this in October."

He said that US' decision to go slow on supporting India on the fields of bio-technology and nano-technology was a stumbling block and this has been sorted out.

"They were looking forward to India's support in low-cost nuclear technology issues but were not reciprocating on BT and nano-tech issues. I have personally intervened and hopefully this landmark agreement will settle all IP related issues," Sibal said and added this is a great step forward.

Sibal further highlighted that with this agreement, India has the potential to be a manufacturing hub for the pharma industry, especially in vaccines, as "we are a low-cost economy with high quality human resources... I have had scores of discussion with MNCs in the pharmaceutical sector and they all agree that to reduce the cost of bringing out a drug, it is imperative to have an India manufacturing centre. There is no other choice for global firms as the combination of top-class HR with economies of scale are not available easily."

Sibal also noted that he is pushing for setting up of a Federal Drug Administration (FDA) sort of body in India, inculcating world-class systems and processes of FDA.

"If we get such a world-class certifying process in India, the issue of going in for repeated trials in each of the countries by a firm to market its drugs will be eliminated. The Indian Health Ministry is working out the framework and we will engage FDA to share their best practices," Sibal added.