BENGALURU: Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, while inaugurating the Bengaluru India Nano 2026 Summit on Tuesday, said that he is determined to lead Karnataka into the next wave of technological transformation by positioning Bengaluru as a global hub for deep technologies, including nanotechnology, biotechnology and quantum technologies.
After felicitating the summit’s progenitor Prof. CNR Rao and calling him a root of the city’s scientific temperament and stature, Shivakumar added, “Nanotechnology is no longer confined to research laboratories. It has become a foundational technology transforming healthcare, electronics, energy, agriculture, mobility, aerospace, defence and advanced manufacturing.”
“Today, nations are competing not merely for investments but for scientific leadership. Whoever leads in advanced materials, nanoelectronics, semiconductor technologies and AI-driven manufacturing will shape the global economy of the coming decades. Karnataka intends to be among those leaders,” added Shivakumar, urging global capability centre (GCC) operators to file patents in the state and not merely close tickets.
The CM urged for collaboration amongst government, academia, industry and entrepreneurs, stressing that technological advancement must remain human-centric.
The CM alluded to his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that he recounted to the latter about the meeting between industrialist Jamsetji Tata and Swami Vivekananda aboard a ship from Japan to the United States in 1893, whose discussions on scientific research and nation-building eventually led to the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) with the support of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore, where Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV donated around 370 acres of land in Bengaluru and extended financial and infrastructural assistance for the institute.
The Professor CNR Rao award was conferred this year upon Dr. BLV Prasad, who is currently serving as the director of the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) in Bengaluru.
“I offer my deepest gratitude to Prof. Rao and the Karnataka government for the conducive environment given to us to pursue our endeavours; organising such events plays a great role in establishing the state as the science capital of the country,” he said.
