commentary

At a long-awaited turning point

Arindam Ghosh and Yamuna Krishnan
Research in nanotechnology in India is on an upswing given the substantial investments in the past
two decades. Making an impact globally will now require investing in education, entrepreneurship,
translational science, infrastructure for manufacturing, and changing the administrative mindset.

I
ndia has a unique cultural, ethnic and sectors such as defense and anti-terrorism. until 2006. In 2007, the Nano Mission, a five-
demographic diversity, as well as a large Given a supportive administrative thrust year programme with over US$250million
variety of natural resources and societal and political will, nanotechnology can play a of government funding, was formed with the
demands. Perennial abundance of sunlight leading role in building a knowledge-based mandate to promote basic research, develop
across the country offers ample scope for economy by leveraging distinct advantages human resources and research infrastructure,
clean-energy generation. At the same time that India has in human resources and in catalyse international collaboration and
rampant infant mortality and malnutrition manufacturing potential. nurture nano-enabled technologies2. Since
indicate the necessity for clean water and then, nanotechnology has evolved as a
rapid, low-cost diagnostic machinery The nanotechnology landscape multi-agency effort with the Department of
for over 200 million people. The innate The need to promote nanotechnology in Information Technology, Defense Research
interdisciplinary nature of nanotechnology India was realized early in the millennium, and Development Organization, Council
fits seamlessly with Indias needs, but that is when the NanoScience and Technology of Scientific and Industrial Research, and
not all. The countrys rapid economic growth Initiative (NSTI) under the Department of Department of Biotechnology emerging as
demands a new kind of industrialization Science and Technology was launched with the main funding bodies. By February2014,
that requires the appropriate urban and a core funding of Rs. 600million (equivalent the Nano Mission alone had funded nearly
rural infrastructure1 (Fig.1a). It also needs to US$15 million). The NSTI remained the 350 individual research projects (Fig.1b),
technological self-reliance in strategic main source of funding for nano research and established 12 Units of Nanoscience,

a c
2007: Centers for Nanotechnology
1.23 billion 2009: Units of Nanoscience
(Rank 2) US$4,800 billion 2011: Thematic Units of Excellence
(Rank 3)

US$1,800 billion
136 per million (Rank 10) US$300 million
(Rank 49) (20012012)

Population R&D GDP GDP (PPP) Nano R&D

researcher expenditure

15
Individual nano-research

10
projects

0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Year
Materials science: synthesis, growth, computational Applied materials research: metrology, sensing, agriculture
Nanomaterials for energy, environment and health Fundamental phenomena and processes in nanoscience
Nanodevices and nanomanufacturing

Figure 1 | Nanotechnology in numbers. a, A perspective of human resources and investment (accompanied by global rankings) in nano research in India1. GDP, gross
domestic product; PPP, purchasing power parity. b, The scientific emphasis of nano-research projects sanctioned by the Nano Mission to individuals in research
institutions or universities2. c, The geographical distribution of nano-research-related infrastructure development in India2. The year indicates the time of sanction of
the unit or centre. Panel c, Daniel Kaesler/Alamy.

NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY | VOL 9 | JULY 2014 | www.nature.com/naturenanotechnology 491

2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

commentary
a Investments in the worldwide
6,000
Publications
4,000
2,000
0 0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
b
Italy
England
France
Iran
Japan
Germany
South Korea
India
USA
China
0 5
Number of publications in 2013 (1,000)
Figure 2 | Research output in nanoscience and nanotechnology. a, Number of nano-research-related
publications from India and patents filed at the Indian Patent Office over the past decade (data from ref.1
and P. Asthana, personal communication). b, Number of publications in ISI-approved nanoscale-related
journals in 2013. Inset: Indias rank in nanoscale research output over the past decade3.
7Centers of NanoTechnology, 10 Thematic
Units of Excellence and one Centre
for Computational Materials Science
(Fig.1c). The Department of Information
Technology, in addition, funded two parallel
National Centers of Nanofabrication and
NanoElectronics at the Indian Institute of
Science in Bangalore and Indian Institute of
Technology in Mumbai to the cumulative
tune of nearly US$70 million. Institutions
dedicated to nanoscience research, such
as the Institute of Nano Science and
Technology at Mohali and the National
Centre for Molecular Materials Research
at Thiruvananthapuram, were created to
specifically explore the application potential
of nanoscience in agriculture, energy,
environment and medicine. These efforts have
resulted in the creation of new infrastructure,
including high-end clean-room facilities for
materials and device processing, as well as
in several advanced electron microscopes
for materials characterization. It seems that
now is a good time to reflect on whether
these efforts have yielded results that are
commensurate with the investment.
Sobering facts and ground realities
The investments have yielded significant
results because in terms of the sheer number
492 NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY | VOL 9 | JULY 2014 | www.nature.com/naturenanotechnology
2011 2012 2013
Year
1 Stagnant research quality. Despite the
3 increase in funding from 2007 (the NSTI
Global rank
5 phase) to 2014 (the Nano Mission phase),
7 the average impact factor of a nanoscience
9
10
11
12
13
05
06
07
08
09
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
Year
10 15 20 25
of publications in nanoscale science and
technology India stands sixth in the world
with over 23,000 papers published between
2008 and 2013. In fact, in 2013, India
published 6,324 papers behind only
China and the USA with 25,738 and 16,020
papers, respectively 1,3 (Fig.2). Materials
science (30%), physical chemistry (20%)
and applied physics (19.7%) are the leading
areas of nanoscale research in India, which
reflects the funding pattern over the past
sevenyears3 (Fig.1c). The numbers in the
brackets indicate the percentage of the total
number of publications corresponding to
that field. In addition to research papers,
technology transfer has received a boost
too, with over 300 patent applications
filed at the Indian Patent Office in 2013,
nearly ten times that in 2006 (Fig.2a).
Over 650PhD degrees were awarded under
Nano Mission funded projects, in addition
to over 800 Masters degrees. The Nano
Mission has allocated funding for Indian
scientists to utilize international neutron
and synchrotron radiation sources, and
nanotechnology is consistently represented
as an area of cooperation with almost every
nation. Despite such impressive progress,
a closer inspection reveals a need for
improvement in several areas.
2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
context. Even though nanoscience and
400
nanotechnology funding in India has
increased, it is miniscule compared with
Patents
200
investment in the US (US$1.8billion in
2013 alone)4, Japan (US$2.8billion from
20062010)5, France (US$3billion during
20092014)6 and China, which outspent the
US with a net funding of US$2.25 billion
(corrected for purchasing power parity) in
nanotechnology in 20117.
publication from India grew only from 2.69
to 2.95. In 2012, India was ranked sixteenth
in the world in terms of the h-index of these
publications (Fig.3a). Only 16of the nano-
related publications from India featured in
the top 1% cited papers in nanoscience and
technology in 2011, leaving the countrys
global ranking in this aspect essentially
unchanged since the pre-Nano Mission
30 era8 (Fig.3b). This trend is reflected in
technology transfer as well. In spite of the
recent surge in the number of patents filed
at the Indian Patent Office, Indias presence
at the global platform is near negligible, with
less than 0.2% share at the United States
Patents and Trademark Office (Fig.3c).
Insufficient human resources. Despite the
positive public perception of nanoscience
and technology, with several universities
offering undergraduate degrees on this
subject, nanoscience and nanotechnology
research in India does not seem to
offer substantial career prospects. Only
22postdoctoral fellowships were granted
by the Nano Mission over five years. In
terms of the number of PhD students, there
is tremendous scope for improvement
compared with the current output of about
150PhD students per year (in nanoscience
and technology), which is a very small
number compared with the target of
producing 10,000 PhD students annually
over the next decade articulated by the
Ministry of Human Resource Development 9.
Weak links with the private sector. Private
industries have been largely indifferent to
nanoscience and technology research and
development (R&D). This is particularly
evident if we consider that, for example,
nearly 30% of R&D in the information
technology industry is funded by the
private sector 10. There have been several
demonstrations of the enormous potential
impact of nanotechnology applications
in the Indian market by academic
institutions. For example, researchers

a c
USA
China
Germany
UK
Singapore
South Korea
Japan
Spain
...
India (Rank 16)
0 10
b
Year Top 1% cited papers (Rank)
2005 6 (14)
2009 26 (13)
2011 16 (14)
Figure 3 | Indian nanoscience and nanotechnology in scientific literature. a, h-index of nanoscience-related publications1. b, Fraction of highly cited papers on
nanoscience and technology from India8. c, Patent share at the United States Patents and Trademark Office1.
at the Indian Institute of Technology-
Madras (IIT-Madras) have used a silver-
based aluminachitosan nanocomposite
for arsenic decontamination of water11
(Fig.4). In another instance, highly stable
silver-nanoparticle-based antimicrobial
finish (from IIT-Delhi and International
Advanced Research Center in Hyderabad)
and water-based self-cleaning nanofinish
(from IIT-Delhi) technologies have already
been passed on to local textile industries.
In light of this potential, the reluctance of
the industry to increase their investment in
nanotech R&D is a matter of concern12.
Strategies to enable the next inflection
Nanoscience and technology could
potentially become a powerful medium
for access, equity and inclusion for the
heterogeneous population of India.
This could be achieved through a
multi-pronged approach.
Funding models. Although funding for
nanotechnology needs to be increased to
match global standards, it is equally critical
to implement more creative funding models
that could make the same funds go further 13.
The three (occasionally five) year funding
models have been helpful in developing
local infrastructure, but in addition to
funding largely individualistic efforts, it is
now essential to identify priority/strategic
areas in nanoscience and technology, and
allocate long-term sustained funding to
develop a coherent research programme,
with few but well-defined deliverables of
both national and international relevance.
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY | VOL 9 | JULY 2014 | www.nature.com/naturenanotechnology 493
The Netherlands
China
France
15 20 25 30 35
h-index (2012)
Top 10% cited papers (Rank)
41 (15)
168 (9)
317 (9)
The Centers for Quantum Computation
and Communication Technology, instituted
by the Australian Research Council, are
good examples of sustained funding models
for directed nano research. The Wyss
Institute at Harvard University represents
a creative funding model that has yielded
successful examples of new biological
nanotechnologies over a comparatively short
timescale14. The recently instituted Thematic
Units of Excellence in India are interesting
steps in this direction, but would need more
focused mandates to achieve perceptible
impact. Such units would benefit from more
specific objectives of strong global relevance,
and meticulous monitoring of progress.
Nationwide coherence and collaboration.
It is imperative to nurture a culture of
collaboration in the nanoscience and
technology community in India. Even the
Thematic Units that currently consist of
multiple investigators are, by and large,
collections of independent activities
and still need to progress into regimes
that are truly synergetic. This might
be enabled in two ways: first, we must
promote research initiatives around highly
equipped centralized facility clusters that
embody a wholesome interdisciplinary
research ecosystem. In addition to direct
governmental support to run these facilities,
resources also need to be allocated to
individual research projects to ensure
well planned and productive usage of the
infrastructure, equipment or computation
time. Second, inter-institutional
collaborative activities are almost
2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
commentary
Others India (0.2%)
Japan
South Korea
Germany
Taiwan
USA
negligible, and the time is now ripe to build
coherence in research endeavours between
the best research institutions. Thematic
Units involving multiple institutions
and universities will not only allow an
expanded resource of appropriate expertise
and research specificity, but also foster a
nationwide collaborative culture.
Administrative support. The academic
R&D sector needs to actively minimize
administrative red tape and bureaucracy to
enable the efficient practice of nanoscience
and technology in India15. There are two
main issues in this context: in India, project
sanction times are unacceptably long,
ranging anywhere between 6 to 12months,
sometimes longer. In the context of intense
global competition slow sanction times
often makes the proposed research itself
irrelevant, or at best, incremental when
the projects are finally sanctioned. Second,
the financial structure of the contractual
workforce, such as postdoctoral researchers
and skilled facility managers/technologists,
could greatly benefit from a complete
overhaul. We must acknowledge also, that
it is absolutely critical to create a thriving
postdoctoral culture16. Excellent postdocs
would also form potentially high-quality
faculty candidates for the expanding number
of research institutions in India. Similarly,
the development of new infrastructure
throughout the country also demands
dedicated human resources to run and
maintain these facilities efficiently and
continuously to maximize their usage
and productivity. The design of attractive
commentary
a b
Figure 4 | Promising example of commercialized nanotechnology. a, A silver nanocomposite, Ag-BM, used for metal decontamination of water, formed from
silver nanoparticles (yellow spheres) embedded in a matrix of alumina (brown rods) templated on chitosan fibrils (ochre filaments). b, A resulting product
for arsenic and metal decontamination of water named AMRIT, undergoing installation in the arsenic- and iron-affected regions of the Murshidabad District,
West Bengal (inset), and currently serving 30,000 people. The technology has resulted in the incubation of the Indian Institute of Technology Chennai-based
company InnoNano Research. Panel a adapted with permission from ref.11, 2013 NAS. Inset, Daniel Kaesler/Alamy.
and prestigious packages to draw highly
skilled and motivated personnel both
from within and outside India could prove
truly transformative to nano research in
India. An interesting example of such a
programme are the DBT (Department of
BioTechnology)Wellcome Trust India
Alliance Early Career Fellowships that have
managed to attract and retain excellent
postdoctoral researchers in India. These are,
however, a very small number.
Nanomanufacture and prototyping.
Although significant emphasis on
the synthesis and characterization of
nanomaterials has been evident over the
past decade (Fig.1b), translating research
to nanodevices and commercializable
prototypes needs immediate attention.
Only one out of ten Thematic Units is
dedicated to nanodevice technology. Centers
for Nano-Electronics, such as those in
Bangalore and Mumbai, are now developing
nanodevice-based sensing and monitoring
methods for health, energy and environment
applications, but the number of such centres
is far below critical. Expanding the existing
nanofabrication centres and creating
newer ones, will allow prototyping at the
laboratory level, which, in turn, will facilitate
indigenous manufacturing capabilities to
be developed.
Global networking. Greater emphasis on
international networking is another core
element to develop and sustain a healthy
perspective of Indian science. Funding of
research projects needs to include provision
for international travel, as appropriate,
which would enable participation in
international conferences to enhance the
visibility of Indian nanoscale research on
a global platform. Mechanisms that allow
scientists to choose their collaborators
at their own discretion through direct
interaction would prove beneficial. Concrete
efforts to engage a global nanoscience and
494 NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY | VOL 9 | JULY 2014 | www.nature.com/naturenanotechnology
technology workforce spanning every
level, both of Indian and non-Indian origin
could prove game-changing. This could be
achieved by creating dedicated nanoscience
and technology fellowships for overseas
visitors, in the spirit of the recently instituted
Jawaharlal Nehru Science Fellowships by the
Department of Science and Technology.
Industry engagement. New initiatives
to expand the domain of nanotechnology
in industry beyond bulk synthesis of
nanomaterials would be important.
Owing to the shortage of both prototyping
machinery as well as a knowledgeable
workforce there is very little understanding
of prior art and the nature of nanotech
development. The problem is compounded
by weak intellectual property safeguarding
policies. Further, regulatory structures for
nano research, such as waste management
and ethics are virtually non-existent. A
central guideline on these issues, which
is transparent and fair, is required for
new nano-based industrialization to
occur17. Entrepreneurial activities need
explicit support, both as part of the
basic curriculum for students, as well as
in dedicated funding opportunities for
academiaindustry links2.
The years ahead
India needs to complement its service-based
economy with indigenous manufacturing
capability. Nanotechnology offers an
opportunity for India to assume global
leadership in new-age electronics to
biomedical technologies. PhaseII of the
Nano Mission has now been approved
and extended until 2017 with a new and
ambitious agenda. Initiatives towards a
National Regulatory Framework Roadmap
for Nanotechnology have been recently
started. While the international community
fiercely debates the future of nanotechnology
and the scale of its impact on human life
and society, the nanoscience and technology
2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
scenario in India dons a completely different
relevance. With growing public awareness,
India could exploit nanotechnology as a
versatile hub to educate and create new
infrastructure. This will not only inject
highly skilled human resources needed
for the knowledge-based economy of the
future, but will also prepare India for the
global nanotech revolution if and when
it occurs.
Arindam Ghosh is in the Department of Physics,
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012,
India. Yamuna Krishnan is at the National Centre
for Biological Sciences, TIFR, GKVK, Bellary Road,
Bangalore 560065, India.
e-mail: arindam@physics.iisc.ernet.in;
yamuna@ncbs.res.in
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Acknowledgements
We thank P. Asthana, Department of Science and
Technology, Government of India, S.V. Joshi, International
Advanced research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New
Materials (International Advanced Research Center), and
T. Pradeep, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, for
their valuable input during the preparation of this article.