PUNE: India must stop fearing failure if it hopes to be seen as a global powerhouse, senior chemist Man Mohan Sharma said, arguing that scientific breakthroughs are not possible without unsuccessful experiments and the courage to undertake uncertain research. Receiving the Vigyan Maharshi Award 2026 at the three-day meeting of the National Scientists Round Table (NSRTC 2026) that ended on Sunday, at the MIT World Peace University (MIT WPU), Sharma said that the biggest problem in the country is the lack of a culture that accepts failure as a natural part of scientific discoveries. The former director of the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, urged researchers to remain curious rather than confirm results.“The problem we face in India is that we don’t have a culture of failure. Without failure, you won’t have innovation. If you don’t have innovation, you won’t have innovation,” Sharma said while receiving the award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a citation in recognition of his lifetime achievement, excellence in the fields of civil engineering, science, engineering and technology across the country.Sharma encouraged researchers to remain curious and curious rather than definitive. “Research is inspiring. It’s not predetermined. You don’t know the end of your research. Sometimes, it’s like walking down a blind alley to find out if they’re really blind. Researchers who become consultants and innovators are a very different group of people. They are curious, they work continuously, they have a passion and a desire to achieve something,” he said.The three-day conference has brought together scientists, researchers, industry leaders, academicians and students from across the country to discuss the progress of science and their role in realizing the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.Delivering a keynote address, renowned scientist RA Mashelkar said that India’s journey to become a developed country should be driven by scientific and technological innovation. “The question before us is not whether India can be a developed country. The real question is whether India can be a country that creates knowledge, has knowledge, turns knowledge into wealth and finally turns that wealth into human culture,” he said.Mashelkar stressed that India should create science-driven startups instead of increasing the number of startups. “A brand is truly developed not only when it uses advanced technology, but when it creates it. It becomes even bigger when it creates technologies that change the lives of all people,” he added.Rahul V. Karad, executive president of the MIT WPU, said that universities and governments must work together to foster scientific anger and create an environment that encourages young researchers to pursue important science and technology.Speaking on “Generation of National Wealth through Science and Technology”, Padma Bhushan Prof. JB Joshi, chancellor of ICT, Mumbai, said India gained political independence in 1947 but was dependent on other countries for technology and information. “We need another war of freedom for our knowledge, our innovation and our wealth,” he said.At the event, the inaugural DeepTech Young Entrepreneur Awards, carrying a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each, were presented to Narayana Rao Sripada, co-founder of Swaasa, for developing an innovative AI-based mobile phone monitoring system, and Capt. Nikunj Parashar, founder of Sagar Defense Engineering, an independent maritime and defense robotics company.