The new patents regime will help boost India's performance in the pharmaceutical sector and have a special significance in the industry that has already built a strong manufacturing base, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday.

"Our industry has benefited from the 1970 patent amendment. As a result, today we have a strong manufacturing base in drugs and pharmaceuticals... I understand that during the last four years, the industry has (grown) by 400 percent," Singh said at the inauguration of the 92nd Indian Science Congress here.

The summit, which is India's most prestigious meet for scientists, would last until Friday and involve at least 7,000 participants from India and abroad. This year's meet is focused on "Health Technology as Fulcrum of Development".

"Apart from keeping our international commitments, an important objective of our government is to bring in a balanced intellectual property regime... An ideal regime of intellectual property rights has to strike a balance between the private incentives for innovators and public interest of maximizing access to the fruits of innovation," he said.

Hailing the discovery of the new molecule that would reduce the time period for the treatment of tuberculosis, Singh said: "The recent breakthrough by our scientists ... to treat tuberculosis is an important achievement made possible by public-private partnership in R&D.

"However, the industry will have to move from mere imitation to innovation now. It will have to get into drug discovery research. I am very happy that the industry has already accepted this challenge," Singh said.

He also called for development of drugs to treat the deadly HIV and malaria.

Affirming the government's commitment to the development of basic science, applied science and promotion of excellence, he said: "I am committed to rebuilding the science base in universities. We will also promote public private partnerships to increase funding for frontier areas of scientific research."

Calling attention to a study launched by the Indian National Science Academy that revealed a decreasing of number of students opting for pursuing careers in science, Singh said: "We have to improve the quality of teaching and increase the enrolment of students and mathematics at school level."

According to the study, less than three percent of school children preferred to pursue a career in science.

Expressing concerns about the deteriorating number of scientists in the country, the prime minister assured the de-bureaucratisation of science and technology and re-structuring of support systems.

"I am concerned about the the tyranny of bureaucracy and the quality of output in many of our scientific research establishments... We will create career opportunities for scientists so that we can retain our talent at home," he said, addressing the problem of brain drain among Indian scientists.