Team Blitz India
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research is committed to make India ‘Atmanirbhar’ by developing indigenous technologies, said Dr N Kalaiselvi, the Director-General of CSIR.
She was speaking at a press conference held on the ‘Role of CSIR in building an Atmanirbhar Bharat’, in Panaji on January 29.
Talking about the success stories of ‘Atmanirbhar’ initiatives, Dr N Kalaiselvi, who is also the Secretary of Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, said that the CSIR’s this year’s Republic Day Tableau had highlighted the unleashing of a ‘Purple Revolution’ ushered through Lavender cultivation in Jammu & Kashmir. CSIR developed an elite variety of lavender suitable for cultivation in temperate regions of J&K.
The Tableau had also showcased PRIMA ET11, India’s first women friendly, compact, electric tractor indigenously developed by CSIR, under agro-mechanical technology.
She further said how India, which had been importing lemongrass oil for years, became an exporting country by 2023, all thanks to CSIR’s Aroma Mission. In the year 2023, the country has exported 600 million tons of lemongrass oil, she said.
Dr Kalaiselvi also mentioned about the hydrogen hydrate producing manufacturing facility under the CSIR that was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022. In 2023, the first batch of commercial production of hydrogen hydrate started.
Talking about the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) technology, Dr Kalaiselvi said that two aircraft that took part in the Republic Day flypast were SAF, an indigenously- developed technology in the field of aviation. “We have now signed an agreement with Airbus. The Airbus will be making use of our SAF technology. A few more private players are also in talks with us,” she said.
Dr Kalaiselvi also launched C-Bot, an underwater unmanned vehicle indigenously developed by the NIO. C-Bot can carry a number of equipment, sensors and gadgets to 200 metres deep into the water, which will help the scientists study the undersea ecosystem.
