Pattern of extramural R & D funding in India - NOPR

Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research

780 Vol. 67, October 2008, pp.780-787

J SCI IND RES VOL 67 OCTOBER 2008

Pattern of extramural R & D funding in India Namita Gupta* and Rakesh Chetal NSTMIS Division, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Technology Bhavan, New Delhi 110 016 Received 17 April 2008; revised 16 July 2008; accepted 28 July 2008 This paper overviews funding pattern of extramural research supported by Central Government departments/agencies during 5 years period (1995-2000) and then compares it with previous 5 years (1990-95). Analyses are made in terms of pattern of funding by types of institutions, broad subject areas, major scientific agencies and year-wise support. Regional distribution of R&D projects and their support in India is also analyzed. A broad analysis of core databases on world publications in science and technology is also carried out. Keywords: Extramural research, Funding pattern, Sponsored projects

Introduction Indian government is patron of scientific and industrial research shouldering financial burden (80%) of national research and development (R&D) expenditure, which has increased from Rs 12473.17 crores in 1998-99 to Rs 16198.78 crores in 2000-01 and to Rs 18000.16 crores in 2002-031. During 200203, share of different bodies was as follows: Central Government including public sectors, 67.1; state governments, 8.5; higher education sector, 4.1; and private sector industry, 20.3 %. Among R&D bodies, there are two types 2 of departments/agencies: i) R&D performing bodies [Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Space (DOS), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), etc.]; and ii) R&D sponsoring bodies [Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and Department of Ocean Development (DOD) presently known as Ministry of Earth Sciences]. Although, R&D performing bodies also support extramural (sponsored) research, sponsoring bodies play major role in promotion of scientific research through time-bound R&D projects. All Central Government-based scientific *Author for correspondence Tel: 91-011-26567373/Ext 371, 26590371; Fax: 91-011-26525541

E-mail : [email protected]

agencies sponsor R&D projects to individual scientists to carry out specific time-bound research projects in their areas of interest. Extramural funding aims to build general research capability and infrastructure in India and encourage scientists to pursue a research career. This study overviews extramural R&D projects funded by major Central Government departments/agencies in India during 5 years period (1995-2000), and compares it with extramural funding during previous 5 years (19901995). Methodology Database analyzed includes extramural R&D projects developed and maintained annually since 1990-91 by NSTMIS Division of DST. Almost all central S&T departments in India (DST, DBT, DAE, DOD), Department of Electronics (DOE, presently Ministry of Information Technology), Department of Education [DOED, presently activity taken by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE)], Department of Coal (DOC), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES), DOS, Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEN), Ministry of Water Resources (MOWR), Ministry of Welfare (MOW), ICAR, ICMR, CSIR, Central Board of Irrigation and Power (CBIP), and University Grants Commission (UGC) have specific schemes to sponsor R&D projects and are included in

GUPTA & CHETAL: PATTERN OF EXTRAMURAL R & D FUNDING IN INDIA

this data base. These agencies invite time-bound projects from individual scientists working in universities / colleges, institutes of national importance, national laboratories, public sector undertakings and other registered bodies and provide funds through their extramural funding schemes. R&D support by any S&T agency and research projects sponsored by it to universities, laboratories and other academic institutions can give an idea of the magnitude of R&D activities. When this is studied for all major S&T departments/agencies, it throws some light on extramural research support pattern within the country3 . Keeping this in view, extramural R&D projects funded by major central S&T departments/ agencies in India during 1995-2000 are analyzed in terms of pattern of funding by types of institutions and by broad subject areas. Analysis also covers year-wise and agency-wise funding patterns during this period. Regional distribution of R&D projects and their support in India is also studied. A comparative analysis of this data has been made with previous 5 years period (19901995) to understand pattern of funding of sponsored research during the last decade of 20th century.

781

during 1995-2000. Average cost of an R&D project was about Rs. 14.7 lakhs during 1995-2000 as compared to only 8.06 lakhs during 1990-95; average cost of a project underwent an increase of about 82% during 1995-2000 over 1990-95. During 1995-2000, there were 512 projects costing Rs < 1 lakh each, 5791 were costing between Rs 1-10 lakhs, 1903 between Rs 10-20 lakhs, 240 between Rs 2025 lakhs, and 688 projects costing Rs 25 lakhs and above. During 1990-95, there were 848 projects costing Rs < 1 lakh each, 4756 projects costing between Rs 1-10 lakhs, 726 between Rs 10-20 lakhs, 146 between Rs 2025 lakhs and 315 projects costing Rs 25 lakhs and above. Year-Wise Funding

Year-wise R&D support by 21 funding agencies during 1995-2000 (Table 1) indicates that on an average 1827 projects were funded with an average annual cost of Rs 268.40 crores. Year-wise R&D support by 22 funding agencies for 1990-95 indicated that on an average 1358 projects were funded with an average cost of Rs 109.53 crores every year. Funding by Major Scientific Departments/Agencies

Limitations

Project cost referred means the total approved cost of project for initial approved duration of the project. Information pertaining to Ministry of Mines and MNES is not covered fully. Information pertaining to MOEN for 1994-95 and MOW for 1996-97 are not included. UGC supplied only minor research projects information during 1999-2000. Results and Discussion

Three main R&D sponsoring bodies (DST, AICTE and UGC) and two R&D performing bodies (CSIR and ICAR) emerged as main sponsors of R&D, accounting for 6437 (70.5%) of total sponsored projects during 1995-2000 (Table 2). However, in terms of the value of R&D funding support, DST provided highest extramural funding [Rs 298.38 crores (22.2%)] and also approved maximum projects (2237) during 1995-2000 followed by DOC [Rs 199.58 crores(14.9%)], MIT [Rs 198.46 crores (14.8%)] and DBT [Rs 168.06 crores (12.5%)]. DST and these three agencies accounted for 64.4% of total R&D funding.

Overall Pattern

A total of 9134 R&D projects costing Rs 1341.79 crores were approved by 21 Central Government departments/agencies during 1995-2000. R&D support reached out to 8484 scientists as principal investigators (PIs) spread over a total of 1491 institutions located in 426 cities and towns in India. These institutions4 included: universities, 154; colleges, 682; deemed universities, 24; institutes of national importance, 11; national laboratories, 274; and registered bodies and other state governments departments, 346. As compared to 1990-95, in which number of sanctioned projects was 6791 costing Rs 547.64 crores, there was an increase of about 35% in number of projects and nearly 2.5 times in total funding support

Table 1—Year-wise R&D support during 1995-2000 and 1990-1995 Number of projects 1995-2000* 1716 1795 1780 2050 1793 9134a

Total approved cost Rs, crores 1990-1995** 1995-2000 1990-1995 1225 161.98 99.47 1149 186.48 85.16 1420 218.57 104.51 1440 349.84 127.16 1557 424.92 131.34 6791 1341.79 547.64

*1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000; **1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95; aTotal

782


Table 2—Department/agency-wise support to extramural projects during 1995-2000 and 1990-95 Department/agency

Departments Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Department of Coal (DOC) Department of Education (DOED) Department of Electronics (DOE) Department of Mines (DOM) Department of Ocean Development (DOD) Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) Department of Science & Technology (DST) Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Ministries Ministry of Information Technology (MIT)* Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) Ministry of Environment & Forests (MOEN) Ministry of Welfare (MOW) Ministry of Water Resources (MOWR) Councils/Commissions All Indian Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) University Grants Commission (UGC) Other agencies Central Board of Irrigation & Power (CBIP) Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Steel Authority of Indian Limited (SAIL) Grand Total

Number of projects

Total approved cost Rs, crores

1995-2000

1990-1995

1995-2000

1990-1995

358 590 73 72 37 2237 2

312 440 44 261 98 3 54 1810 8

44.17 168.06 199.58 11.42 17.25 298.38 0.14

15.37 133.64 20.40 17.21 29.29 0.25 23.28 153.32 0.60

220 26 210 30 12

65 211 26 38

198.46 4.79 18.29 3.04 0.69

8.96 11.27 2.72 1.57

1419 1010 713 512 1058

792 634 645 797

114.79 61.19 80.67 39.98 26.86

28.50 36.41 13.07 14.19

61 364 116 14 9134

226 260 52 8 6791

5.39 40.94 7.41 0.29 1341.79

12.67 20.47 3.39 0.72 547.64

*Includes projects sponsored by Department of Electronics (DOE); - Data not available

During 1990-95 (Table 2), DST approved maximum number of projects (1810). During this period, on an average, 362 new projects were sanctioned by DST, 159 by UGC and 158 by CSIR per year. Extramural support by DST was highest [153.32 crores (28%)] followed by DBT [133.64 crores (24%)]; DST and DBT’s share in total R&D funding was more than 50%. DST has been a leading sponsoring agency both in terms of number of projects as well as financial support throughout the decade. During 1995-2000, three main funding bodies (DST, AICTE and UGC) exhibited high outreach to scientists in India. DST reached out to maximum PIs [8484(24.5% of the total)] followed by AICTE (16.1%) and UGC (12.3%). R&D performing bodies (CSIR and ICAR) also had comparable outreach at 11.2% and 7.8% of

the PIs respectively. These five agencies accounted for about 72% of total number of PIs involved in sponsored R&D, indicating that these agencies sponsor R&D to diverse areas and institutions. Funding by Subject Areas

During 1995-2000, engineering (30.5% of total projects, 37.5% of total fund) and biological sciences (20% of total projects, 15.4% of total fund) were the main recipients of R&D support, followed by earth sciences (13.5% of total fund) and chemical sciences (10.3% of total fund); these four subjects accounted for about 77% of total R&D funding (Table 3). It indicates that engineering and technology is being given more thrust during post-liberalization era by funding agencies. During 1990-95, biological sciences received maximum support


783

Table 3—Subject area-wise Extramural R&D support during 1990-2000 Subject

Number of projects 1995-2000

Agricultural sciences Biological sciences Chemical sciences Earth sciences Engineering& technology Mathematics Medical sciences Physical sciences Grand total

1990-1995

Total approved cost Rs, crores 1995-2000 1990-1995

882 1820 1141 688 2779

799 1660 789 532 1433

125.63 206.70 138.52 180.68 504.04

(9.4%) (15.4%) (10.3%) (13.5%) (37.5%)

149 881 794 9134

97 865 616 6791

5.33 (0.4%) 90.20 (6.7%) 90.69 (6.8%) 1341.79 (100%)

64.06 (11.70%) 155.67 (28.43%) 34.52 (6.30%) 45.70 (8.34%) 156.44 (28.57%) 3.80 (0.69%) 40.64 (7.42%) 46.81 (8.55%) 547.64 (100%)

Table 4—Number of institutions receiving R&D support by type of institutions during 1990-95 and 1995-2000 Type of institutions

Number of institutions 1990-1995

Universities Colleges Deemed Universities Institutes of National Importance National Laboratories Others Total / Overall

133 443 16 9 233 261 1095

by number of projects followed by engineering. Maximum funds were received by engineering (28.6%) followed by biological sciences (28.4%). Extramural support to mathematics (Table 3) was least (0.7% during 1990-95; 0.4% during 1995-2000). Average cost of a project was highest in earth sciences (Rs 26.26 lakhs) followed by engineering (Rs 18.14 lakhs) and least in mathematics (Rs. 3.58 lakhs) during 1995-2000 (Table 3). During 1990-95, average per project cost was highest in engineering (Rs 10.92 lakhs) and least in mathematics (Rs. 3.92 lakhs). During both periods (1990-95, 1995-2000), maximum number of high costing projects (>25 lakhs) was in engineering and biological sciences. Only one project during each period was in this cost range in mathematics area. Funding by Institution Types

R&D support increased from 1095 institutions during 1990-1995 to 1491 institutions during 1995-2000, an

Increase, %

1995-2000 154 682 24 11 274 346 1491

15.8 54.0 50.0 22.2 17.6 32.6 36.2

increase of 36% (Table 4), which was particularly high for colleges (54%), followed by deemed universities (50%) and institutions in others categories (33%). This indicates a trend towards a significant expansion of institutional base of sponsored R&D support to institutions like local colleges and autonomous bodies and state government departments. Increase in funding for universities was low (16%). During 1995-2000, share of 682 colleges (medical, engineering and sciences) was only 5.3%, an increase of about 4% than in 1990-1995. National laboratories accounted for about 17% of the projects, which is more or less same for 1990-95 (16%). The 274 national laboratories received 43% of total funding during 1995-2000 as compared to 34% received by 233 national laboratories during 1990-95. During 1990-95, majority of R&D projects were sanctioned to academic sector (Table 5), which received 5082 projects (75% of total) amounting to Rs 307.70 crores (56% of total R&D support). During 1995-2000,

784


Table 5—Extramural R&D support by types of institutions during 1990-2000 Type of institutions


1990-1995

Total approved cost Rs, crores 1995-2000 1990-1995

Universities/Colleges

5159 (56.5%)

3772 (55.5%)

426.07 (31.7%)

195.09 (35.6%)

Deemed Universities

568 (6.4%)

402 (5.9%)

84.39 (6.3%)

45.92 (8.4%)

Institutes of National Importance

1172 (12.8%)

908 (13.4%)

131.26 (9.8%)

66.69 (12.2%)

National Laboratories

1538 (16.9%)

1114 (16.4%)

569.71 (42.5%)

184.94 (33.8%)

Others

679 (7.4%)

595 (8.8%)

130.35 (9.7%)

55.00 (10.0%)

Total

9134 (100%)

6791 (100%)

1341.79 (100%)

547.64 (100%)

academic sector received 6917 projects (76% of total) accounted for only about 48% of total funding, a decrease of 8% from 1990-95. R&D funding support to academic sector was not commensurable with its share of projects throughout the whole decade. Within academic sector, 154 universities received 33.4% of total R&D support during 1995-2000, a decrease of about 11% than in 19901995. Institutes of national importance, which received 13% of the projects and about 10% of total R&D funding, exhibited highest values of average number of projects per institution (107) and average R&D funding per institution (Rs.11.93 crores), indicating continuing importance of these institutions in sponsored R&D in the country. Average R&D funding per institution during 1995-2000 was: national laboratories, Rs 2.08 crores; deemed universities, Rs 3.52 crores; universities, Rs 1.98 crores; and colleges Rs 17.9 lakhs. During 1995-2000 high coverage of institutions in their sponsored R&D programmes was: UGC, 443; DST, 426; and AICTE, 289 institutions. R&D performing bodies also had a wide inclusion of institutions in their sponsored research programmes as: DBT, 250; ICAR, 215; and CSIR, 207 institutions. DST, AICTE, UGC, CSIR and ICAR were main project providers (77% of total projects sponsored) to academic sector (universities/colleges, deemed universities and institutes of national importance). DST, CSIR, ICMR and DRDO heavily patronized (> 73% of total sponsored projects) institutes of national importance. DST, DBT, CSIR, and ICAR were main project providers (65% of projects sanctioned) to national laboratories. IISc Bangalore emerged as the most preferred institution, followed by IIT Kanpur, IIT Mumbai, IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Chennai, BHU and Delhi University.

Considering all agencies together, during 1995-2000, only 5% of 1491 institutions accounted for 50% of the projects, indicating dispersal of projects among institutions extremely narrow. Also 2% of institutions accounted for 50% of total R&D funding, indicating again an extremely narrow dispersal of funding among institutions. During 1990-95, six institutions alone (5 IITs and IISc, Bangalore) received 15% of total R&D support. Also, three universities (Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University and Madurai Kamaraj University) alone received 15.5% of the support given to universities, indicating that R&D atmosphere already exists in IITs and IISc. Therefore, a concerted effort is required to bring in more universities and institutes in remote areas to participate in R&D activities. Analysis by Region

Region-wise distribution of R&D support shows a wide disparity among the states. During 1995-2000, institutions located in six states (Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka and Delhi) received 65% of projects (Table 6), an increase of 8% in terms of number of projects during 1990-95 (57%). Maharashtra, Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, accounted for about 67% of total R&D funding. This is because major R&D institutions [IITs, IISc, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU)] are located in these states. High R&D funding in case of Bihar (prior to the creation of Jharkhand state) was mainly due to location of very high-cost projects in mining technology. During 1995-2000, 10 states and UTs of Andaman & Nicobar, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Pondicherry, Sikkim and Tripura received less than 50


785

Table 6—State-wise distribution of R&D projects during 1990-2000 State

Andaman & Nicobar Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chandigarh Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Karnataka Kerala Lakshadweep Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Pondicherry Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh West Bengal Total


1990-1995

23 678 23 189 245 197 901 63 236 95 85 40 932 317 2 260 979 55 47 3 4 166 49 162 240 23 965 16 1192 947 9134

3 502 5 56 137 174 761 36 177 107 69 32 683 260 240 742 24 43 7 145 23 127 176 1 718 10 930 602 6791

projects each, and together accounted only for a meager 2.5% of the projects and less than 2% of total funding, compared to 1.8% of the projects and 1.4% of total funding during 1990-95. North-Eastern region (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura) could receive only 3.9% of the projects sponsored during 1995-2000. Among 426 cities/towns, institutions based in four metropolitan cities received about 26% of the total funding of Rs 1341.79 crores, those in 21 state capitals/ UTs about 22% and the rest 401 cities and towns about 52% of the total funding support. Each metropolitan city/ state capital, on an average, received Rs.25.9 crores and each city/town in other category Rs 1.7 crores during 1995-2000. Output Indicators

Quantum of scientific publications in a discipline is an indicator of the status of scientific research in that

Total approved cost Rs, crores 1995-2000 1990-1995 3.40 98.10 1.58 13.64 190.20 24.63 137.16 8.38 25.61 17.38 9.40 4.23 139.23 38.00 0.17 26.80 198.51 3.65 3.82 0.19 0.17 17.65 3.79 20.20 24.20 4.47 88.14 0.93 114.07 124.02 1341.79

0.21 46.37 0.52 3.07 14.85 14.60 69.21 5.10 17.21 7.46 3.15 1.69 58.59 23.36 20.50 60.95 1.09 3.77 0.27 11.23 0.88 7.21 10.59 0.03 58.28 0.39 59.87 47.19 547.64

subject area. If it is assumed that a significant number of publications from Indian institutions are outcome of sponsored R&D, the total number of S&T publications from a country can be considered a fairly good indicator of the publication output of sponsored R&D supported by various agencies. To assess outcome of sponsored R&D during periods under study, same assumption was taken and a broad analysis of the core databases on world publications in various areas of science and technology was carried out. For this, a core database for each subject was selected and number of papers listed in that database with an Indian address was counted as the number of peerreviewed publications. Database covered were CAB Abstracts (agriculture), BIOSIS Previews (life sciences), CA Search (chemical sciences), GEOREF (earth sciences), Ei Compendex Plus (engineering), Mathsci (mathematics), EMBASE (medical sciences) and

786


Table 7—Subject area-wise number of publications from India and world during 1990-95 and 1995-2000 Subject area

1990-1995 Number of publications India

Agricultural

World

India’s contribution to world Publications %

1995-2000 Number of publications India

World

India’s contribution to world publications %

61046

868082

7.03

73424

968570

7.6

45226

3237702

1.40

58684

3380852

1.7

74499

3444979

2.16

81533

4250632

1.9

5746

306980

1.87

7882

409631

1.9

Engineering

19283

1042895

1.85

25775

1356982

1.9

Mathematics

7779

457664

1.70

11083

492465

2.3

26182

2182600

1.20

28558

2412578

1.2

32523

1588210

2.05

34508

1960187

1.8

272284

13129112

2.07

321447

15231897

2.1

sciences Biological sciences Chemical sciences Earth sciences

Medical sciences Physical sciences Total

INSPEC (physical sciences). The search strategy adopted was to look for an Indian address in Corporate Source (CS) field of respective databases. Accordingly, on-line searches for 1990-2000 provided total publications from world by which one can get an idea of India’s contribution to world publications in this decade (Table 7). During 1995-2000, contribution of Indian scientists to world publications was of the order of 2%, same as during 1990-1995. Among different subject areas, their contribution to world publications was highest in agriculture (7.6%) and lowest in medical sciences (1.2%) India’s share in mathematics and agriculture had a slight increase over that during 1990-95. Conclusions Annual average central support to sponsored R&D is about 2.4% of total annual R&D expenditure of country from all sources. Extramural R&D is a very small constituent of the country’s R&D system and needs to be increased to make it more effective and meaningful. During 1995-2000, 9134 projects worth Rs 1341.79 crores were sanctioned by 21 central government departments/agencies of India. Average cost per project works out to Rs 14.7 lakhs. R&D support reached out to

8484 scientists as principal investigators of extramural R&D projects. In all, 1491 institutions (154 universities, 682 colleges, 24 deemed universities, 11 institutes of national importance, 274 national laboratories and 346 registered bodies and state government departments) located in 426 cities and towns in India were provided R&D support by 21 departments/agencies. DST, AICTE, UGC, CSIR and ICAR were main sponsors of R&D by number of projects accounting for 70.5% of projects. DST, DOC, MIT and DBT were main sponsors of R&D by funding support accounting for about 64.4% of total R&D funding. UGC, DST, AICTE, DBT, ICAR and CSIR were main agencies exhibiting high coverage of institutions for R&D support. Considering all agencies together, even during 1995-2000, projects dispersal ratio was as low as 0.05, indicating that only 5% of institutions accounted for 50% of the projects sanctioned, and therefore, dispersal of projects among the institutions getting R&D support has been extremely low. For all agencies taken together, funding dispersal ratio was 0.02 during 1995-2000. Thus, only 2% of institutions getting R&D support accounted for 50% of funding may be due to lack of exposure among the faculty of less privileged institutions, lack of motivation


among faculty and absence of conducive research environment and facilities.

References

Acknowledgements

2

Authors thank DST, New Delhi for allowing carrying out this study. Sincere thanks are also due to funding agencies for making available list of R&D projects funded. Authors also thank Shri Ashok Raj and Aman Baluni for carrying out analysis.

3

1

4

787

Research and Development Statistics 2004-05 (DST, New Delhi) 2006, 3-8. Directory of Extramural Research and Development Projects Approved for Funding by Selected Central Government Agencies/Departments During 1999-2000 (DST, New Delhi) 2002, 1-10. Gupta N, Choudhary S K & Murthy A N N, Curr Sci, 75 (1998) 190-195. Funding Pattern of Sponsored Research by Scientific Agencies, 1995-96 to 1999- 2000, (DST, New Delhi) 2004, 5-37.

ANNOUNCEMENT Pitamber Pant National Environment Fellowship Award & Dr. B.P. Pal National Environment Fellowship Award for Biodiversity (Years 2007 and 2008)

Ministry of Environment & Forest (Govt. of India) These National Fellowships Awards are given each year to one scientist / expert to encourage R & D pursuits in the area of environmental sciences and biodiversity. Nominees should be below 60 years. Application for both the fellowships should be supported by at least two Fellows of the National Academy of Science / Engineering / Agriculture. The duration of fellowship is for two years. For further details, visit website (www.envfor.nic.in) of the Ministry of Environment & Forest (Govt. of India). Application complete in all respects may be sent by registered AD to Adviser (Dr G V Subramanayam), RE Division, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110 003, India, latest by 15th October 2008.