“WE HAVE TO GET TO 4-5% OF GDP IN RESEARCH”

When one talks of nation building, there seems to be a tendency to look at applied research more than basic or fundamental research. From where India is right now, what sort of research do you think is more important?

In India, where there is a lot of poverty, and lots of other problems, we have to focus on solving the problems around us. For example, healthcare, education, agriculture, human work productivity, infrastructure are problems. These need solutions. To that extent, most focus should be on applied research. On the other hand, I would not want to distinguish between fundamental research and applied research because fundamental problems are ‘not-yet-applied research’ problems. Look at quantum mechanics. Without it, we wouldn’t have transistors, DVDs, laser printers or laser surgeries. We wouldn’t have quantum computers. Same