Phagwara (Pb), Jan 6 (PTI) Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on Sunday said Indians should aspire to be owners of their innovations and not just be innovators.

Delivering the valedictory address at the conclusion of the two-day 8th Women Science Congress held under the aegis of the ongoing 106th five-day Indian Science Congress at Lovely Professional University(LPU) here, Javadekar said, "Indians come up with innovations but for others. It is now time we become owners of innovations. Only then, can our country progress."

He said the percentage of female students in IITs had doubled from 8 per cent to 16 per cent now and tried to inspire the women in the crowd with the works of Nobel Laureate Marie Curie.

Calling women the true embodiment of consistency, compassion, courage and conviction, he said women can innovate more intensely and emotively. Countries which progress in science and technology excel in all sectors, this is seen in Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and China, Javadekar said.

"Like churning of the sea, continuous research takes time but these efforts bear sweet fruits," he said, explaining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan  'Jai Anusandhan'.

He said the Modi government has increased research funds, established six research parks in IITs and launched a scheme called 'Imprint' for public funding of projects.

He claimed about 300 experiments were being carried out under the scheme and that Rs 20 lakh to Rs 20 crore funds are released for the research projects.

He said the three important factors for research -- world class labs, adequate scholarships and 'good' guiding supervisors -- were present in the country which had helped reverse the early 2000s phenomenon of "brain drain" to "brain gain".

He also spoke on the importance of unified work of the academia, the industry and research sectors.

Later, Javadekar spoke on the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) programme of the government, which provides financial assistance for creation of educational infrastructure and research and development in premier educational institutions of the country.

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