New Delhi : President Pranab Mukherjee said that innovation was the currency of the future and emphasized on the need for creating strong innovation culture in India.

"Innovation is the currency of the future. Innovation converts research into wealth. Unless we recognize this reality and start working in a focused manner on creating a strong innovation culture in our country now, we will be left behind in the march to modernity," Mukherjee said addressing the Visitor's Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The first three-day Visitor's Conference commenced on Wednesday with an interactive session between industry and academia, exchange of 44 MoUs and lectures by eminent people.

Speaking after witnessing the exchange of MoUs, Mukherjee said his constant refrain that India cannot aspire to be a world power without having a single world-class university has found resonance among the institutions.

He said the institutions have now started looking at the international ranking processes in a more proactive and systematic manner.

"If we provide enough funds to top 10 to 15 institutions for the next 4-5 years, these institutions will certainly storm into the top 100 of global academic rankings within next few years," he said.

The president said the National Institutional Rankings Framework put in place by the human resource development ministry with an India-centric approach would further help the institutions to compete nationally and globally.

"Apart from giving the nation, the institutions, its students and its alumni a sense of pride, a high rank can help attract quality faculty and meritorious students, open fresh avenues of growth and placement for students, and provide a benchmark for continuous improvement in standards," he said.

The president said brilliant minds, captains of industry and academic leaders of 114 central institutions have come together on a common platform to deliberate on issues concerning the higher education sector for the first time here.

Mukherjee said a strong inter-linkage between industry and academia was a critical component for developing the educational and industrial eco-systems.