Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)

The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) --the premier industrial R&D organization in India was constituted in 1942 by a resolution of the then Central Legislative Assembly. It is an autonomous body registered under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860.CSIR aims to provide industrial competitiveness, social welfare, strong S&T base for strategic sectors and advancement of fundamental knowledge.

The Strategic Road Map designed for CSIR as it stepped into the new Millennium envisaged:

• Re-engineering the organisational structure;
• Linking research to marketspace;
• Mobilising and Optimising the resource base;
• Creating an enabling infrastructure; and
• Investing in high quality science that will be the harbinger of future technologies.

Interestingly , the Government of India has also announced a new Science and Technology Policy 2003 in the early years of the new century. It  presents  Science and Technology with a human face and emphasizes realities such as facing open, global competition; need for examining social, economic and environmental consequences of S&T; and, aggressive international benchmarking and innovation. It advocates strong support for basic research. It emphasizes manpower build-up and retention as important challenges. It advocates dynamism in S&T governance, through the participation of scientists and technologies.