Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced the launch of the Rs one lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund to encourage private sector investments in Research and Development. The announcement was made at the first-ever Emerging Science Technology and Innovation Conclave which aims to bring policy makers, innovators and global thought leaders on one platform to drive the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. PM Modi also unveiled a coffee table book showcasing India’s scientific achievements and released a vision document for science and technology.
Two-tier structure to channel capital
The Department of Science and Technology is the nodal ministry for the RDI Fund. The fund will operate in a layered mechanism. A Special Purpose Fund will be set up inside the Anusandhan National Research Foundation which will hold the Rs one lakh crore corpus. The Fund will not invest directly into companies or startups but will pass capital to second-level fund managers. These managers can be Alternative Investment Funds, Development Finance Institutions or NBFCs.
Support recommendations will be put forward by these second-level fund managers through investment committees made up of experts from finance, business and technology. According to the framework these committees will function at arm’s length from the government.
India's R&D spending has doubled: PM
Speaking at the event, PM Modi said the impact of reforms undertaken over the last few years to position India as an innovation-driven nation is now becoming visible across key indicators. He said India is "no longer a consumer of technology, but a pioneer in technology-driven transformation." PM Modi said India's R&D expenditure has doubled in the last decade, while the number of patents registered has surged nearly 17-fold. "India now hosts the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, with over 6,000 deeptech startups working on areas such as clean energy, advanced materials and other frontier technologies. He also pointed out that India’s semiconductor sector has taken off," he added.
'India now drives tech transformation'
Referring to the COVID-19 years, the Prime Minister underlined how India's domestic capability accelerated during a moment of global disruption. PM Modi said the country developed an indigenous vaccine in record time and delivered the world's largest vaccination programme. "This was made possible because India today has the world’s first and most successful digital public infrastructure, which enabled scale, data-driven coordination and real-time delivery," the PM added. (With inputs from PTI)
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