PUNE: India must eliminate the fear of failure if it hopes to emerge as a global innovation powerhouse, said senior chemical engineer Man Mohan Sharma, arguing that scientific breakthroughs are impossible without failed experiments and the courage to undertake uncertain research. Accepting the Vigyan Maharshi Award 2026 at the three-day National Scientists Round Table Conference (NSRTC 2026) that concluded at MIT World Peace University (MIT WPU) on Sunday, Sharma said the country’s biggest challenge was the absence of a culture that accepts failure as a natural part of scientific discovery. The former director of the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, urged researchers to remain driven by curiosity rather than guaranteed results.“The problem we face in India is that we don’t have a culture of owning failures. Without failures, you won’t have invention. If you don’t have inventions, 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 contributions to science, engine building, industrial innovation, education and industrial construction.Sharma urged researchers to remain driven by curiosity rather than guaranteed results. “Research is inspiring. It’s not preordained. You don’t know the end of your research. Sometimes it’s like walking down a dead end to find out if you’re really blind. Researchers who become mentors and innovators are a very different class of people. They’re curious, they work tirelessly, they have passion and they want to achieve something,” he said.The three-day conference has brought together scientists, researchers, industry leaders, academicians and students from across the country to deliberate on emerging scientific advances and their role in achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.Delivering the keynote address, eminent scientist RA Mashelkar said that India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation must be driven by scientific excellence and innovation. “The question before us is not whether India can become a developed nation. The real question is whether India can become a nation that creates knowledge, owns knowledge, converts knowledge into wealth and ultimately converts that wealth into social welfare,” he said.Mashelkar emphasized that India needs to create science-driven startups instead of simply increasing the number of startups. “A nation truly develops not only when it consumes advanced technologies, but when it creates them. It becomes even greater when you create technologies that improve the lives of all humanity,” he added.Rahul V. Karad, Executive Chairman of the MIT WPU, said universities and governments must work together to nurture the scientific temperament and create an ecosystem that encourages young researchers to pursue fundamental science and innovation.Speaking on “Generation of National Wealth through Science and Technology”, Professor Padma Bhushan. JB Joshi, Mumbai’s IT chancellor, said India had achieved political freedom in 1947 but remained dependent on other countries for technology and knowledge. “We need another fight for freedom for our own abundant knowledge, our own abundant innovations and our own abundant wealth,” he said.During the event, the inaugural DeepTech Young Entrepreneur Awards, with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each, were presented to Narayana Rao Sripada, co-founder of Swaasa, for developing an AI-based smartphone respiratory detection solution, and Captain Nikunj Parashar, founder of Sagar Defense Engineering for autonomous and defense indigenous marine robotics.