Bangalore: India has a lot of potential in the field of nuclear energy and the efficiency of operation of its nuclear power plants are comparable to the best in the world, said R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Union Government, here on Sunday.

Addressing the sixth graduation day of the post-graduate engineering programmes of the M.S. Ramaiah School of Advanced Studies (MSRSAS), Dr. Chidambaram said India should move towards using more fast breeder reactors and thorium-based reactors considering that it has the world's largest reserves of thorium. "We can become a global leader in this field," he said.

"Science and technology are the drivers of growth in an economy. We should make use of high technology in the manufacturing sector," he said.

Dr. Chidambaram said all research and development should be related to the needs of industry, the requirements of what the country considers as critical technologies and for the benefit of society. "We have to make technology choices, and this requires `technology foresight.' The critical technologies for India include, in my opinion, nuclear, space and defence related; advanced manufacturing and process technologies, information technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology; and technologies needed for small and medium enterprises and for rural development," Dr. Chidambaram said.

India is a hot spot for innovation and we could seek innovative leadership across the board in all science and technology areas. It is important for the country to retain the most talented young people in scientific careers and those who show high potential for applied research in technology development, he said. On the restrictions on foreign students to come and study in India, Dr. Chidambaram said these are courses that are mostly demand driven and the Government should look into the matter.

Madeleine Atkins, Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University (U.K.), called upon the graduating students to involve themselves in the innovation process, think out of the box and develop an open and critical mind.

She gave away PG degrees in various engineering disciplines to the students.

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