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The government has been focusing on transformational research rather than basic research which is “not so much relevant”, Niti Aayog member V K Saraswat said on Thursday, indicating a major shift in the management of scientific research in universities and laboratories across India in the past few years.

“All scientific research institutions have been now asked to focus more on transformational research rather than going into the basic research which is not so much relevant,” Saraswat said while speaking at an event organised by Niti Aayog and South Asian Institute of Harvard University.

The former DRDO chief added that the government would promote research in basic sciences provided it should lead to economic growth.

“Today all the new programme which government of India is sanctioning whether it like cyber-physical research, artificial intelligence, in each case there has been greater initiative for innovation,” he said.

However countering the government’s approach towards research in India, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon India, cautioned that focusing only on applied sciences is dangerous as research in basic science would be vital for the country’s future.

“Investing in basic science is not only investment in future but securing our future,” she said.

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