‘Multi-pronged strategy for energy independence is need of the hour’

* You have a very long association with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO),which is being criticised of late by the country’s top leadership. What are the changes that you see in the organisation now?
All that I can say is that the scientists in every era put in their best. The results are not always the correct criterion to gauge the inputs. I believe that same is the case with the DRDO.

* Your ‘Vision 2020’,of which PURA is an integral part,will be reaching the halfway mark in 2010. How does the mid-term review of the vision look like?
For India to be a developed nation,a 10-per cent growth rate must be sustained for nearly a decade. We were on the right path when we achieved 9 per cent just before the economic meltdown happened. Right now,the growth rate is predicted to be around 6-7 per cent. I believe that economic revival is inevitable and we must keep dreaming big and become the captain of our problems. But whether we are on the right track is difficult to guess as of now.

* How was your experience while teaching the ‘Globalising and Resurgent India through Innovative Transformation (GRIT)’ course at the Indian Institute of Management,Ahmedabad?
The students have really taken good initiatives in the focal areas of GRIT like agriculture,infrastructure,education,health,information technology and energy. It included developing concepts like National Prosperity Index and generating Public Private Partnership mechanisms under PURA. All the policy recommendations finalised under the course will be submitted to the parliamentary committees soon.