Good morning. Respected Director of CSIR IMT, Dr. Rammanoj, distinguished scientists of IMT who have given their careers to this great institute, distinguished guests, colleagues, and young students, scientists, staff, and media persons. It is a humbling experience to address one of the pioneering institutes on its foundation day—CSIR IMT, which is very close to my heart. I remember when IMT was earlier known as RRL, and in those days we had a few regional research laboratories doing pioneering work silently. The nature of scientific pursuit is about silent work, creating patents and papers, but outreach was limited. In recent times, after RRL converted to IMT with a focus on metals and minerals, it got its due outreach. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the President and Vice President of CSIR, and DG CSIR ma'am, I am aware of the good work in innovation, scientific pursuit, high TRL research, and technology transfer. CSIR has created two additional verticals for innovation centers, and a distinguished scientist has been recruited for business development. Today we celebrate the 84th foundation day. We fondly remember Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, the architect of CSIR, who created 34 to 39 labs across the country. As Dr. Kali said, we have signed collaborative frameworks with Canada, Australia, and Russia—we are not just in India, we are global. This creates huge opportunities. Though it is a bit delayed, we have enough to do. Before I share my thoughts on R&D thrust, I apologize for not being able to attend the last two years due to pressing engagements. It is always pleasant and humbling to address such an august gathering with scientific temperament. Scientific temperament needs to be nurtured, protected, and encouraged. We often say we failed, but drawing a parallel to my organization—we are explorers. Had we decided not to pursue oil and gas exploration in 1889, we wouldn't have found hydrocarbons. The first oil discovery in India was at a depth of 50 meters. The story: Assam Railway Trading Corporation was laying railway lines using elephants, and British officers noticed black glue on the elephants' toenails. They traced it and dug—hence 'Digboi'. Today Digboi is an international heritage site. Post-independence, the company became Oil India Limited. In 1889 we drilled 50 meters; today we drill 5,900 to 6,000 meters on land. The success ratio for hydrocarbon exploration is 8:1 to 15:1. Bombay High was discovered on the 16th well, Barmer on the 33rd, and Guyana on the 47th well—now 11 billion barrels. These discoveries are high-end, risk-driven research. Similar parallels exist in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and refining. They didn't happen overnight. The iteration process—whether discovering oil, creating pharmaceutical ingredients, or developing vaccines—all happened with relentless pursuit, not failure. I urge the young scientific community to delete the term 'failure' from our lexicon. Celebrate not-so-successful efforts and document them. In exploration, we do post-drill analysis because you don't see hydrocarbon at 6,000 meters. The same applies to critical minerals. We need clarity of thought and conviction. Those ideas and innovations should be protected, and even in career progression, those who take risks should be promoted. In oil and gas, one deepwater well costs ₹1,000 crore, and we drill many. The officers responsible are promoted regardless of finding oil. We must celebrate success in patents, but also celebrate not-so-successful attempts—without them, we won't succeed in R&D. This is the message of scientific ministries globally. If we do that, we create a fearless environment. Then the director's job becomes simple, and breakthroughs will come. Gone are the days of routine research. Now it's time for advanced research, AI/ML, and being a disruptor. Under the Prime Minister's leadership, the ecosystem is excellent. Funding is huge, collaboration between industry, academia, and R&D is at its best. The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) has a corpus of ₹1 lakh crore. Oil India has committed to two verticals: AI/ML-driven exploration for hydrocarbons and critical minerals. IMT was part of the success story for bulk and energy minerals. In 2020, as DGSI, we curated 3,000 geological reports that became the building block for critical mineral exploration. Critical minerals are the next mainstay for energy—applications in defense, space, mobility, data processing, health, medicine, and more. I commend IMT for registering as a Center of Excellence under the National Critical Mineral Mission. As part of the expert committee under the Cabinet Secretary on critical minerals, I share responsibility with the director. We need collaborative, innovative ideas. Innovation works as a multiplier. Oil India has an umbrella MOU with CSIR labs. We are doing enhanced oil recovery, decarbonization, and pipeline flow improvements. I invite IMT scientists to collaborate on vanadium extraction from our graphite and vanadium block in Arunachal Pradesh, and on converting petcoke to active anode material using graphitization. We also have a composite license for polyhalides in Rajasthan for potash extraction. Additionally, we have discovered lithium enrichment in formation waters from our Rajasthan fields. We want to collaborate under ANRF to harness lithium. For materials and corrosion, we have an MOU with IIT Bhubaneswar—I urge coopetition, not competition. We can depute our R&D team for brainstorming. For enhanced oil recovery, we need pilot studies on polymer flooding. For critical minerals, we have 7.5 lakh square kilometers of potential areas. We need AI/ML studies of geophysical signatures. In Odisha, we are drilling 3,000-meter wells across 15,000 square kilometers. I invite IMT scientists to see our work. The granitic plutons in Odisha have not been studied for rare earths or lithium. A joint exercise with the state government can be done. IMT's chemical analysis capability, along with the state directorate and GSI, can form an invincible force. The country has highest expectations from the scientific community. I know you are doing phenomenal work, but translating it to commercialization must be pursued. I am glad you announced seven pilot plants—it should be 17 or 70. In 2016, the PM laid the foundation for the first 2G ethanol plant using bamboo feedstock. The initial cost was ₹1,700 crore, but it escalated to ₹4,920 crore. That's fine—we must pursue technological breakthroughs. The IRR may not work initially, but the rural economy benefits. The plant was inaugurated on September 14 this year. The derivatives include peracetic acid, acetic acid, green energy, and activated charcoal. Even after escalation, the IRR is around 16%. My message: don't give up. Be restless, get out of your comfort zone. If someone blocks you, bypass them. Respect administrative hierarchy, but if you are convinced about an idea, share it. Don't worry about credit—leadership knows who is doing what. Trust your leadership. Use town halls. Gone are the days of being docile. Follow stories of semiconductors, Chandrayaan, defense manufacturing. Stay charged. CSIR provides access to information and data. I also appreciate the ACSIR construct, where senior scientists translate practice to academics. Students converting research into doctorates should be complimented. To the youngsters: understand your value contribution. The day you realize your importance, you become self-motivated. Be a go-getter, be unstoppable. That's what the country needs. Thank you.
