The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the largest research and development organisation in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. CSIR is also among the world's largest publicly funded R&D organisation which is pioneering sustained contribution to S&T human resource development in the country. , it runs 37 laboratories/institutes, 39 outreach centres, 3 Innovation Centres and 5 units throughout the nation, with a collective staff of over 14,000, including a total of 4,600 scientists and 8,000 technical and support personnel. Although it is mainly funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, it operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The research and development activities of CSIR include aerospace engineering,

structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...

, ocean sciences, life sciences and healthcare including diagnostics, metallurgy, chemicals,

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

, food,

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

, and environmental science.
Dr. N Kalaiselvi
is the present Director General of CSIR-cum-Secretary DSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. In terms of Intellectual property, CSIR has 2971 patents in force internationally and 1592 patents in force in India. CSIR is granted more than 14000 patents worldwide since its inception. CSIR was awarded the National Intellectual Property (IP) Award 2018 in the category "Top R&D Institution / Organisation for Patents and Commercialisation" by

Indian Patent Office The Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) generally known as the Indian Patent Office, is an agency under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade which administers the Indian law of ...

. In late 2007, the Minister of Science and Technology,

Kapil Sibal Kapil Sibal (born 8 August 1948) is an Indian lawyer and politician. Sibal has represented several high-profile cases in the Supreme Court of India and is widely regarded as one of the famous lawyers of India. He is a Member of Parliament, in Ra ...

stated, in a

Question Hour Question Hour is the first hour of a sitting session of India's Lok Sabha devoted to questions that Members of Parliament raise about any aspect of administrative activity. The concerned Minister is obliged to answer to the Parliament, either ora ...

session of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, that CSIR has developed 1,376 technologies/

knowledgebase A knowledge base (KB) is a technology used to store complex structured and unstructured information used by a computer system. The initial use of the term was in connection with expert systems, which were the first knowledge-based systems. Or ...

during the last decade of the 20th century.

History

In the 1930s, the need for establishing research organisations for the development of natural resources and new industries in India began to emerge. Eminent citizens such as C. V. Raman, Lt. Col. Seymour Sewell and J. C. Ghosh had proposed the creation of an advisory board of scientific research. Sir Richard Gregory, then editor of ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'', was among the first people who officially reported to the British Government. After visiting scientific departments and universities in India in 1933, Gregory submitted to Samuel Hoare,

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

, regarding the need of scientific organisation similar to the

DSIR Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

in Britain. Indian scientists at

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

initiated schemes to launch a National Institute of Sciences and an

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

, respectively. At the Fifth Industries Conference in 1933, the Provincial Governments of

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

, Madras,

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

and

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

unanimously reiterated their demand for a co-ordinating forum for industrial research. Hoare advised the

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

Lord Willingdon Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (12 September 1866 – 12 August 1941), was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy and ...

, to support the demand. However, in May 1934, Willingdon replied to Hoare saying, "The creation of a Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in India to promote the application of research to natural resources does not appear to be necessary." While the Indian DSIR was rejected, the colonial government provided a small concession. It instead offered to create an Industrial Intelligence and Research Bureau, which came into operation in April 1935 under the Indian Stores Department. The Bureau's limited resources (with a budget of ₹1.0 lakh per annum) made it impossible to initiate major research and industrial activities as had been hoped for; it was mainly concerned with testing and quality control. At the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1939, the bureau was proposed to be abolished. Arguably,

Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar Sir Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar (14 October 1887 – 17 July 1976) was an Indian lawyer, diplomat, and statesman who was the first president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the 24th and last Diwan of Mysore. He also served as ...

became the most instrumental in the creation of CSIR in India. As a member of Viceroy's executive council, and also of Commerce, he recommended that the Bureau should be terminated, not as a measure of economy, but to make room for a Board of Scientific and Industrial Research, which should be endowed with greater resources and wider objectives. It was by this persistence that the Board of Scientific and Industrial Research (BSIR) was created on 1 April 1940 for a period of two years. Mudaliar became the chair of the board. It was at this point that Bhatnagar was appointed to pilot the board, as the Director. The BSIR was allocated an annual budget of ₹5,00,000 under the Department of Commerce. By the end of 1940, about 80 researchers were engaged, of whom one-quarter was directly employed. Major achievements of BSIR included development of the techniques for the purification of Baluchistan sulphur anti-gas cloth manufacture, vegetable oil blends as fuel and lubricants, plastic packing cases for army boots and ammunition, dyes for uniforms and the preparation of

vitamins A vitamin is an organic molecule (or a set of molecules closely related chemically, i.e. vitamers) that is an essential micronutrient that an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism. Essential nutrien ...

, and the invention of a

pyrethrum ''Pyrethrum'' was a genus of several Old World plants now classified as ''Chrysanthemum'' or ''Tanacetum'' which are cultivated as ornamentals for their showy flower heads. Pyrethrum continues to be used as a common name for plants formerly inclu ...

emulsifier and cream. In early 1941 Bhatnagar persuaded the government to set up an Industrial Research Utilisation Committee (IRUC) for translating results into application. The government then agreed to make a separate fund out of the royalties received from industry for further investment into industrial research. Mudaliar recommended that an Industrial Research Fund should be constituted, which would have an annual grant of ₹10,00,000 for a period of five years. This was accepted by the Central Assembly in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

at its session on 14 November 1941. Then the constitution of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as an autonomous body was prepared under Mudaliar and Bhatnagar. Thus, CSIR came into operation on 26 September 1942. The BSIR and IRUC were incorporated into the advisory bodies to the governing body of the CSIR. In 1943 the governing body of CSIR approved the proposal of Bhatnagar to establish five national laboratories — the National Chemical Laboratory, the National Physical Laboratory, the Fuel Research Station, the Glass & Ceramics Research Institute and the National Metallurgical Laboratory. In 1944 in addition to its annual budget of ₹10 lakh, CSIR received a grant of ₹1 crore for the establishment of these laboratories. The Tata Industrial House donated ₹20 lakh for the chemical, metallurgical and fuel research laboratories. The foundation for the

Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI) is a Kolkata-based National research institute under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. Established in 1950, it focuses on the area of glass, ceramics, mica, refractories ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

was the first to be laid, in December 1945; National Metallurgical Laboratory at Jamshedpur in November 1946; and that for the National Chemical Laboratory at

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

was the last, on 6 April 1947, four months before India became independent. All the five establishments were completed by 1950.

Organisation Structure

# President :

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

(Ex-Officio) # Vice President : Minister of Science & Technology, India (Ex-Officio) # Governing Body : The Director General is the head of the governing body. The other ex-officio member is the finance secretary (expenditures). Other members' terms are three years. # CSIR Advisory Board : 15-member body composed of prominent members from respective fields of science and technology. Its function is to provide S&T inputs to the governing body. Member terms are three years.

CSIR achievements

*Developed India's first synthetic drug,

methaqualone Methaqualone is a hypnotic sedative. It was sold under the brand names Quaalude ( ) and Sopor among others, which contained 300 mg of methaqualone, and sold as a combination drug under the brand name Mandrax, which contained 250 mg me ...

in 1950. *Developed Optical Glass at CGCRI for defence purposes. *Developed first Indian tractor '' Swaraj'' in 1967 completely based on indigenous know-how. *Achieved the first breakthrough of flowering of Bamboo within weeks as against twenty years in nature. *First to analyse genetic diversity of the indigenous Andamanese tribes and to establish their origin out of Africa 60,000 years ago. *In 1987, developed the most popular tractor of India, named as Sonalika, being manufactured by International Tractors Limited. *Developed the first transgenic

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' () is a genus of flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or (less frequently) pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many speci ...

model for drug screening for

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

s. *Invented, once a week non- steroidal family planning pill '' Saheli'' and non-steroidal herbal pill for asthma called ''Asmon''. *Designed India's first ever parallel processing computer, Flosolver. *Rejuvenated India's one-hundred-year-old refinery at

Digboi Digboi (IPA: ˈdɪgˌbɔɪ) is a town and a town area committee in Tinsukia district in the north-eastern part of the state of Assam, India Crude oil was discovered here in late 19th century and first oil well was dug in 1866. Digboi is known a ...

using the most modern molecular distillation technology. *With

TCS TCS may refer to: Organisations * Tata Consultancy Services, an IT company headquartered in India * Taxpayers for Common Sense, a US nonpartisan federal budget watchdog organization * TCS Courier, a Pakistani courier service * Touring Club Suisse ...

, developed a versatile portable PC-based software 'Bio-Suite' for bioinformatics. *Design of 14 seater plane '

SARAS Saras (in some cases written variously as Sarras) may refer to: * Saras, Sudan (sometimes divided into "Saras East" and "West" by its placement along the Nile) * Saras S.p.A., oil refining company of the Massimo Moratti family * National Aerospa ...

'. *Established first ever in the world ' Traditional Knowledge Digital Library' accessible in five international languages, English, German, French, Japanese and Spanish. *Successfully challenged the grant of patent in the US for use of haldi (

turmeric Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast ...

) for wound healing and

neem ''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus '' Azadirachta'', and is native to the Indian subcontinent and most of the countries in Afr ...

as insecticide. *In 2007, under the NMITLI program, began the study of Sepsivac, a drug for gram-negative sepsis. *In 2009, completed the sequencing of the Human Genome. *In 2011, successfully tested India's 1st indigenous civilian aircraft,

NAL NM5 NM5 or C-NM5 was a multi-role, multi-mission aircraft being jointly developed by National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) and Mahindra Aerospace. It is a 5-seater civil aircraft and an extension of the Hansa project. The NM5 was entirely designed a ...

made in association with

National Aerospace Laboratories The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) is India's first and largest aerospace research firm established by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Delhi in 1959. The firm closely operates with HAL, DRDO, and ISRO and ha ...

and Mahindra Aerospace. *In 2020, initiated clinical trials to evaluate Sepsivac's efficacy to reduce mortality rate in

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

patients.

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize

The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize was established by CSIR in 1958. The prize is named after the Founder Director

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar OBE, FNI, FASc, FRS, FRIC, FInstP (21 February 1894 – 1 January 1955) was an Indian colloid chemist, academic and scientific administrator. The first director-general of the Council of Scientific and Indust ...

. The nominees for the award are filtered out from the research categories of - Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Earth Sciences, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary, Engineering, Mathematical Sciences, Medical Sciences & Physical Sciences. The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize comes up with a Citation, a Plaque & a Cash Award of 5 Lakh Rupees with the addition of a stipend of ₹15,000/- per month (till the age of 65). Every year, the Award Selection Committee of CSIR presents the award to maximum 2 individuals from each research category. As per the stats, the SSB Prize has been awarded to 525 individuals for their exemplary work in Science & Technology. The candidates must be: *

Indian Nationality Indian nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds Indian nationality. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the Constitution of India and the Citizenship Act, 1955. All persons born in Ind ...

* Overseas citizen of India (OCI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) working in India * The awardee must have made conspicuously important and outstanding contributions to human knowledge and progress – fundamental and applied – in the field of endeavour, which is his/her specialisation. * Upper Age Limit – 45 years. The above criteria help CSIR Committee to select the eligible candidates for the award but the selection will be based on the results of selection procedure which is conducted by the Advisory Committee of CSIR.

Research laboratories under CSIR

As of April 2022, there are 38 research laboratories under CSIR in entire

Journals

18 journals and 3 popular science magazines ( Science Reporter and its

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

, Urdu editions) are available under open access from NOPR website.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research Scientific organisations based in India Executive branch of the government of India Organisations based in Delhi Organizations established in 1942 1942 establishments in India