Labelling science and technology as the 'determinants of economic growth,' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said India will have to make strides in these two fronts if it is to gain a position among the world's developed nations.
"Science and technology have become the determinants of economic growth and development and India has to be in the forefront of these two fronts if it is to achieve a position among the developed nations of the world," he said after inaugurating the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park in Chandigarh.
He said the countrymen must realise the dreams of former prime ministers Jawahar Lal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi whose vision was to see India make strides on these two fronts.
Nehru, in fact, had described such projects as "temples of modern India," the prime minister noted.
Singh said he too looked upon Rajiv Gandhi CTP as yet another temple as India was moving ahead on science and technology fronts in its quest to battle "poverty, ignorance and disease which afflict millions of our people."
On the strides which India is making on the IT front, he said, "Largescale employment opportunities for our youth, in the services sector as a whole and particularly in the IT and BPO sectors, are enabling young people with appropriate educational backgrounds to be part of the momentum that is taking India forward towards becoming a prosperous nation."
"More and more cities and towns of our country are attracting investment from knowledge companies wanting to tap into our skilled manpower base. They span a wide spectrum of activities -- from high-end Research and Development and software development to call centres and outsourcing of other forms," he said.
The prime minister said Chandigarh is one of the cities that is poised to join the front ranks of IT hubs like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Gurgaon.
"Chandigarh is the hub of north India and has, over the years, transformed itself into a city of economic importance. The growth of technology revolution in the country was earlier limited primarily to a few states, which took the lead in attracting investments from Indian and foreign MNCs," he said.
"Of late, however, technology investments have been spreading and Chandigarh has become a popular destination for companies in the knowledge sector. Dell Computers, Quark, Infosys and DLF in the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park have ushered in a new era of prosperity and technological innovation in this region," he said.
The prime minister said it was significant that the technology park has attracted interest not only from Indian firms, like Infosys, but also from foreign MNCs like IBM.
The park will consist of flexible options for large and small companies including an Entrepreneur Development Centre which will also comprise a state-of-the-art plug and play research facility. This will enable small companies to occupy space on an incubation basis, he noted.
"With an employment potential of over 20,000 in the IT/BPO sector and many other people in the tertiary sector, this Technology Park can be the anchor of many such projects in the region," Singh said.
