India, Jan. 29 -- The Government of India has issued a release:
The National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy - 2020 was only a draft document, therefore, no budget allocation or expenditure was made under it. Subsequent to this draft, however, the government has introduced several new initiatives, schemes and missions to strengthen country's research and development ecosystem. These include: Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme, with a financial pool of Rs.1 lakh crore over six years; establishment of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) with a budgetary provision of Rs. 14,000 crore from Central Government and additional funding to be explored and sourced from non-governmental sources; National Quantum Mission (budget outlay: Rs.6,003.65 crore); etc.
As per the Directory of R&D Institutions, 2025 brought out by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), there are 622 national laboratories & research institutions across diverse sectors such as science, technology, agriculture, medicine, defence, space, etc. India's national laboratories and research institutes are steadily evolving from being purely knowledge generators to active contributors in innovation-led economic growth. Over the years, the mechanisms for commercialization of innovations from national laboratories and research institutes has been actively strengthened through the Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), incubation centers, public-private partnerships, and structured licensing models. As per a recent report on Evaluation of Innovation Excellence Indicators brought out by Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt. of India, some of the notable achievements in this area are:
The research from the national labs/institutes contributes to various sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, energy and environment, transport and infrastructure, livestock and industries like food processing, textiles etc
Public R&D labs/institutes are leading national missions such as the Deep Ocean Exploration Mission, AI (Artificial Intelligence) Mission, National Quantum Mission etc.
There have been 1622 patents filed from 233 institutes during 2021-22 to 2022-23, while 1356 granted to 232 institutes. On the other hand, 1839 technologies were transferred, 1014 new products & 1746 new services were introduced over the two years period.
The efforts made by the government, including international collaborations such as exchange of information, generation of new knowledge, sharing of expertise, optimal utilization of resources, etc. have helped in significantly improving India's position in global scientific standings. India now ranks 3rd in terms of total number of research publications; 3rd in terms of the total number of startups; 4th in number of PhD degrees awarded; 6th in patent filing activity; a significant jump in its Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking from 81st in the year 2015 to 38th in 2025 among 139 economies of the world; etc.
As part of the strategy for encouraging indigenous technological development and innovation for a self-reliant India, the government has been orienting its R&D activities in line with national priorities through its new initiatives, missions and programmes like: launch of Rs.1.0 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund; establishment of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF); National Quantum Missions (NQM); National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS); National Supercomputing Mission; etc. In addition, programmes have been implemented to foster science- and technology-based innovation and entrepreneurship in academic and research institutions, such as the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI), Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) programmes, Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), Technology Development Fund (TDF), and TIDE 2.0 (Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs). All these initiatives are aligned with various national priorities to generate technological prowess, technological solutions, indigenization, livelihood & employment for its citizens and position India at competitive levels vis-a-vis global peers.
This information was given by THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY & EARTH SCIENCES DR. JITENDRA SINGH IN A WRITEN REPLY IN THE RAJYA SABHA TODAY.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
