India has potential to become science superpower, says Nobel Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Nobel Laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan said India has potential to become science super power and the country should continue investing in this field. "There is a need of good institutions which can attract scientists and researchers to come back to India and work here," Venkatraman told reporters here. 

"India has potential to become science super power, but it is a long process and the country should continue investing in science," he added. The Nobel Laureate gave a lecture on 100 years of visualising molecules at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. 

"When I studied in India, there were quality institutes here which does not exist now. We need good institutions and funding agencies to attract people back to the country," added Venkatraman. "India is now a force in attracting people and I am sure in coming days scientists will come back to the country and do research here," he said. "India underinvests in science compared to most western countries but that underinvestment is amplified by the fact that private research and development in India is abysmal," he added.

Ramakrishnan won 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on ribosome structure. He shared the prize with fellow scientists Thomas A Steitz and Ada Yonath.