New Delhi: At the India International Science Festival (IISF) in Panchkula, Haryana, Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh invited industry, investors and researchers to play a more active role in shaping the domestic research and innovation landscape, leveraging the Rs One Lakh Crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) fund. Singh said that the success of the science policy should not be measured by the number of publications, but the ability to bring to the market the innovative research in labs with technologies that can improve the lives of citizens. Singh also noted that the private sector would have a bigger role to play in realising India’s ambitions in frontier technologies.
The RDI Fund was approved by the Union Cabinet earlier in the year and formally launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November, and is designed to catalyse private sector research. The fund will support high-impact near-commercial projects in areas such as clean energy, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, deep-tech manufacturing, semiconductors and the digital economy. As against making grants to companies, the fund will operate through a professional, layered structure, with the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) acting as the first-level custodian. Specialised agencies and selected second-level fund managers will execute the deployment.
India as a leader in scientific research and patents
The startup ecosystem in the country has expanded rapidly over the past decade, bolstered by a larger national effort to build up technological self-reliance. The RDI Fund is designed to bridge a long-standing gap between laboratory research and commercial deployment. The RDI Fund is expected to play a crucial role in inventing and exporting technologies globally, as against simply manufacturing technologies developed elsewhere, marking a significant shift in how India finances and governs innovation. Singh also signalled openness to course correction as the fund is operationalised, noting ‘This is a shared national project.”