"There is no doubt that there is going to be economic crisis in the US. There are imbalances in the US and economy will have weakness," said Gates.

Gates is currently on a visit to India to promote anti-polio and other healthcare efforts, undertaken by his charitable foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in the country.

Addressing the packed gathering here at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gates however sounded confident in his assessment that global economy has changed enough to ward of crisis resulting from meltdown in the housing market and heavy consumer debt.

 "It won't be a long term impact. Microsoft takes 5-10 year's view and is not cutting back on it research. The benefits of these researches will be delivered on time," added Gates.

On US elections

Commenting on US elections, Gates said he pleased the way US elections have generated such interest worldwide and expected new president would try out new approaches to tackle global problems like terrorism and global warming.

'There is always freshness in US elections. People are excited with new administration," I believe US president can make a big difference in reaching out, whether it is in research or reaching out for tacking global problems of terrorism and global warming"

Talking about their research projects here, Gates said that in their research laboratory here - half of whose staff are from the IITs - developed a medium through which the farming community can benefit.