New Delhi: As per the last year records, 140 PhDs were awarded to engineering graduates by the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) highlighting the increasing trend of students opting for research.

To further encourage Research and Development, IIT-D has also come up with scholarships up to Rs.20,000/- per month for research students. Furthermore, accommodation and in-house facilities are also being provided to research scholars.

According to Mr. M. Balakrishnan, Dean, Post Graduate Studies and Research at IIT-Delhi, "Industrial Research and Development (R&D) in India, is getting bigger day by day. Today, the private sector employs PhDs in all disciplines- Automobiles, Energy, Environment, Materials."

Mr. Balakrishnan, while disagreeing to the fact that salaries are a constraint for PhD-holders, pointed out, "A PhD done by a researcher in any of the engineering field today is paid anywhere between Rs.8 lakh to Rs.16 lakh per annum."

He further added that, the companies involved in the technology establishment pay the highest amount, "Companies such as Google and Yahoo, who work with new technologies, pay the highest amount to the researchers."

Another faculty member, Mr. Niloy Mitra, Assistance Professor, Computer Science at IIT Delhi, feels that an increase in PhD students would bring Indian faculties back to India.

"Most of my colleagues who are based in US did not want to return to India or to teach in India as here students lack interest in doing further research after completing their B.Tech", Mitra said.