Breaking the shackles of the past, the government on Wednesday said it is ready to accept participation of private players in internal security area but asked them to spend at least 5-7 per cent of their profits in R&D to get cutting edge technology.

Union home secretary Gopal K Pillai said the home ministry has undertaken several ambitious projects like the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), National Intelligence Grid and visa tracking system where tremendous opportunities were waiting for the private sector.

"I would like to say that in the internal security scenario, there is a huge market which is available for you," he said at a seminar organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce here.

Though the home secretary did not specify which areas of the internal security field were open for private sector participation, it is believed that software development, innovation of new technology, supply of key security components are some of the possible areas.

Pillai said another project which is in the pipeline is the Safe City Project through which the government wants to make the cities safe.

The safe city project is being started in 24 cities for the safety of the citizen through dedicated security networks and the home ministry hopes to extend the project to all major cities in the country in a phased manner.

"If that happens then there is tremendous potential where both industries and government can collaborate," he said.

Citing the example of Bangalore traffic management scheme, the Home Secretary said government and private sector jointly innovated a new scheme which is being implemented in 197 traffic junctions in that city.

"The results are already there. In the last two years there is a 20 per cent decline in fatalities in Bangalore and saved 2,000 lives there," he said.

The home secretary asked private companies to spend at least five to seven per cent of their profits in research and development to get new technology.

"I feel that most companies are still not investing enough in R&D. They believe that that it is not crucial enough. But if you really want to go up the value chain, you have to spend five to seven per cent of your profits into R&D. It is important, it is a long term investment, it is going to give you good dividend as you move forward," he said.

Pillai said many industrial houses were hiring people on contractual basis for doing regular work which was not good.

"What we see a trend which is slightly disturbing -- the use of contract labour....a contract worker does the same work that a regular worker does, but gets pay much less and does not get social security benefits. I think this is not good in the long term for the industries," he said.

The home secretary said industry must be willing to investment in human capital and it is important to understand that the most important capital is the human resource and it is very critical to move forward.