| The Special R&D fund
promised by the Finance Minister in his 2000-01 budget speech for support
of knowledge-based and pharmaceutical industries may become operational
by June end. Essentially based on the report of Pharmaceutical Research
& Development Committee headed by Dr R.A.Mashelkar,DGCSIR, the total
fund under this scheme may touch Rs 750 crores in five years. It is still
not clear whether it is a purely "public funded" scheme or whether it be
mobilized jointly with industry. Since R&D of this type will be heavily
controlled by IPR interests, it is essential that related administrative
issues are also sorted out in time such that the investments would become
meaningful.
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