New Delhi/Bangalore, Dec 23 (IANS) Noted Indian scientist C.N.R. Rao, who is chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council to the prime minister, has become the first Indian scientist to win the prestigious August-Wilhelm-von-Hoffmann medal for his outstanding contributions in chemistry, a science ministry official said Tuesday.

The award is being given by the German Chemical Society, a science ministry official said Tuesday.

"This is the highest international medal in chemistry awarded once in two or three years, and Rao is the first Indian scientist to be honoured with the prestigious medal," the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advance Scientific Research (JNCASR), where Rao is a honourary president, said in a statement here Tuesday.

The medal will be presented to Rao in the European Chemical Congress at Nuremberg Aug 29, 2010. It has instituted after German chemist August-Wilhelm-von-Hofmann.

"The medal has been awarded earlier to Nobel laureates and leaders in chemical research," the statement added.