Union Minister reviews CSIR activities, lauds innovative breakthroughs

The Minister, who is also the Vice President of CSIR, hailed major breakthroughs achieved by the institute, such as India's first indigenously developed hydrogen fuel sea vessel and others under the CSIR-New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI).

"It is a unique example of collaborative innovation in the public-private space. The country's first indigenous green hydrogen fuel cell inland waterway vessel may later pave the way for hydrogen fuel-driven larger sea vessels or ships," the minister said.

The vessel was developed by Cochin Shipyard and featured a hydrogen fuel cell-based drivetrain built by KPIT.

Singh particularly appreciated two recent breakthroughs supported under the NMITLI programme.

The first is the development and commercialisation of CSIR-TECHNOS Raman Spectrometers (CTR-300 and CTR-150), achieved through a partnership between CSIR-Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute (CSIR-AMPRI), Bhopal, and M/s Technos Instruments, Jaipur.

"These high-end Raman spectrometers, approved for marketing in January 2022, represent a significant milestone in India's scientific instrumentation capabilities," the Union Minister said.

"Eleven units of indigenous Raman Spectrometers have been supplied across the country to date, demonstrating growing national adoption of this indigenous technology," he noted.

The minister also highlighted the development of fuel cell technology under the Industry-Originated NMITLI programme.

In this initiative, KPIT collaborated with CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL), Pune, and CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI) to develop and demonstrate low-temperature PEM fuel cell systems.

"These achievements exemplify the role of CSIR in driving technology-led growth and contributing to India's self-reliance in frontier areas," he said.

The Minister called upon the CSIR authorities to continue strengthening the industry linkages, scale up innovations for societal impact and pursue bold R&D initiatives aligned with national priorities.