Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said that the country should increase its annual expenditure on science and technology.

“We must increase our annual expenditure on science and technology to at least 2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP),” Manmohan Singh in his inaugural address at the 101st Indian Science Congress here.

“To do science, someone must pay for it,” he added.

The prime minister also said that this should be a combined initiative of government and the industry.

“In countries such as South Korea, where a high percentage of GDP goes to science, the contribution of industry is significant,” Manmohan Singh said.

He appealed to the corporate sector to join hands with the government in “realising the goals set for the nation”.

“I am happy that our department of biotechnology has activated private public partnerships in research and development,” he said.

  Expenditure on S&T, needs to be hiked, PM