Tim Harper, chief executive officer and founder of nano technology company Cientifica, speaks on Potential applications :

The major areas of application right now are medical and pharmaceuticals, information technology, chemicals and advanced materials. However, if we look at this from an Indian perspective, textiles are far more significant.So the major applications would be in chemicals (better catalysts to improve throughput, the use of nano particles in composite materials) and textiles (to make cloth stain and crease resistant).

Nanotechnology will also affect packaging. For an agriculturally rich nation like India, getting fresh food to outside markets in peak condition will be very a much a function of how it is packaged – whether we are talking about ‘smart’ packaging, for example, the use of gas permeable layers that can expel undesirable gases such as oxygen while replacing it with nitrogen, or simply being able to detect a consignment of milk that has been left out on the sun en route to the supermarket.