India needs innovation overdrive to sustain momentum: Naidu

Warangal (Telangana) : With India striving to become a five trillion-dollar economy by 2025, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said the country has to go on an innovation overdrive to sustain the momentum.

Observing that the Indian growth story had taken the world by surprise and made the country an attractive investment destination, Naidu said: "For India's growth to be sustainable we have to go on an innovation overdrive. India just cannot afford to be obsolete any more."

He was speaking after inaugurating the diamond jubilee celebrations of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) here.

Naidu said India had always been known for its frugal innovations.

The Vice President said innovations helped combat corruption and pilferage of subsidies. It also made possible to overcome the most pressing problems efficiently and effectively.

"We have to focus on simplifying and making our procedures transparent."

Naidu said science and technology should ultimately lead to the betterment of human lives and insisted that technological institutions such as the NIT should focus extensively on innovation.

He proposed that innovation be the "one mantra" that leads the institution forward and added that innovation was an urgent necessity and no more a luxury for India.