India's first electric car was unveiled on the Technology Day here toady by the vice-president, Mr. Krishan Kant. The Human Resource Development and Science and Technology Minister, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi; the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr. Bachi Singh Rawat; scientific secretaries to the government and senior officials were present.

Awards for inventions and innovations in science and technology, biotechnology and research and development were also presented by the vice-president on the occasion.

India's first electric car manufacturer, a Bangalore-based company, was given the national award for successful commercialisation of Indigenous technology. The award carries a cash prize of Rs.5 lakh. The battery operated cost-effective car has a driving range of 80 km and a top speed of 65 km an hour.

The best Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park (STEP) Award worth Rs 1 lakh for the year 2000 was conferred on Mr. Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, for its contribution in developing successful enterpreneurs, commercialisation of new technologies and creating employment opportunities.

Speaking on the occasion, the vice-president said that technological protectionism and universalisation of technology are both at work at the current stage of globalisation.

He cautioned that our technologists and scientists will have to be sensitive to this reality, for it is they who will have to find the best answer to defend our national interest in the face of these conflicting forces.

He said India's achievements in the last one decade have been impressive. Our software sector has boomed giving us competitive advantage in a front line area of modern technology.

A fear is now being expressed that unless these current advantages are backed up by considerable research and Industry support, we may be relegated to the position of a mere supplier of low-wage IT workers rather than become global market leaders, Mr. Kant remarked.

Echoing similar sentiments, Dr. Joshi, said that the ministry of science and Technology has played a significant role in enabling and catalysing the development of Indigenous technology.

Earlier, the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr. Bachi Singh Rawat, inaugurated an exhibition put up to mark the Technology Day. A number of innovative products manufactured with indigenous technology as well as India's contribution to the world of science and technology were on display.