Science and Technology › IPR and science policy
हिन्दी — Read in HindiResearch funding, institutions and awards
How Indian research is paid for and organised: research spending, the national research foundation and funds for innovation, science institutions and their reform, awards, and the careers of scientists. It serves GS3 answers on science policy.
India's research spending
Copy link to India's research spendingPrelims and Mains
India's research spending is its gross expenditure on research and development (GERD), paid by government and by private industry.
- For the first time the larger half of India's research bill is paid by private industry rather than by government.
- The change is in who pays, not in how much, because the total remains small set against the countries India measures itself by.
0.84%India's gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) as a share of gross domestic product, up from 0.64% in 2020-21
2.58% and 3.45%the same share for China and the United States
354researchers per million people in India
What changed
6 Aug 2026
- Industry now employs more core researchers than the public sector, and part of the rise may be better measurement under new disclosure norms rather than new money.
- Close to 80 per cent of ANRF money goes to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
- Public research money is spread across agencies that cannot see what the others fund.
- NITI Aayog proposes a Unified Project Management System to plan, fund and monitor public research in one place.
- Without a persistent identifier and standard metadata on every grant, money still cannot be traced to results.
The Hindu, 6 Aug 2026: Quantum shift: on private industry and national research spending (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 27 Aug 2026: Why India's research ecosystem needs a map of where the money really goes (opens in a new tab)
29 Jul 2026
- Gross expenditure on research and development reached 0.84 per cent of GDP in 2023 to 24, up from 0.66 per cent in 2019 to 20.
- The private sector's share rose to 51.8 per cent, overtaking government for the first time.
- India ranked 38th on the Global Innovation Index in 2025, from 46th in 2021.
PIB, 29 Jul 2026: PARLIAMENT QUESTION: FUND DISBURSED/UTILIZED IN ANRF (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 29 Jul 2026: PARLIAMENT QUESTION: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EXPENDITURE (opens in a new tab)
Anusandhan National Research Foundation
Copy link to Anusandhan National Research FoundationPrelims and Mains
The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) pays for research in universities and colleges, and its mandate is to widen the base beyond the institutions that already win grants.
- Its Missions for Advancement in High Impact Areas (MAHA) already cover electric vehicles, drones, medical technology and 6G.
What changed
1 Jun 2026BriefANRF and the Jal Shakti Ministry launched the MAHA Water Mission, the fifth of these missions. PIB, 1 Jun 2026: Dr Jitendra Singh says ANRF is democratising research funding, launches ₹200-crore MAHA Water Mission to support StartUps (opens in a new tab)
Research, Development and Innovation Fund
Copy link to Research, Development and Innovation FundPrelims and Mains
The Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund is a ₹1 lakh crore fund that lends to private deep tech firms, where ANRF pays for academic research.
- It gives no grants: it offers long term, low interest loans and equity for up to half the project cost.
- It funds only technologies already validated in the laboratory, and is meant to be a revolving pool that returns its capital to the Consolidated Fund of India.
- Money flows from a fund held by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation to second level fund managers, the first two being the Technology Development Board and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council.
What changed
10 Aug 2026BriefAn Indian Express investigation found that of the 22 firms approved loans in the first round, 15 were tied by investment to members of the selecting panel. Its defenders answer that recusal and supermajority voting are the safeguards, and that panel members' connections in deep tech are the point of having them. The Indian Express, 10 Aug 2026: Trust is key, tech fund needs more guardrails (opens in a new tab) · The Indian Express, 20 Aug 2026: Dear Editor, I Disagree: For deep-tech fund, members' connections are valuable assets (opens in a new tab)
Background reading: PIB, 29 Jul 2026: PARLIAMENT QUESTION: LOW-INTEREST, LONG-TERM LOANS/FINANCIAL GRANTS UNDER RDI SCHEME (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 23 Jul 2026: PARLIAMENT QUESTION: RDI FUND UNDER ANRF (opens in a new tab)
Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026
Copy link to Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026Prelims and Mains
The Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026 would repeal the Act of 1959 under which the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is run as a society, and remake ISI as a statutory body corporate.
- ISI, founded in 1931 by P.C. Mahalanobis in Kolkata, is an Institution of National Importance.
- Once a governing body's composition and powers sit in an Act, altering them takes Parliament rather than the institution's own members.
- A Board of Governors and an Academic Council would run ISI, on the pattern of the IITs and the Indian Institutes of Management.
What changed
6 Aug 2026BriefFaculty and some Members of Parliament read the change as a loss of the autonomy ISI has had as a society. The Hindu, 6 Aug 2026: Why is the new Indian Statistical Institute Bill drawing criticism? | Explained (opens in a new tab)
Mega Science Vision 2035 for climate research
Copy link to Mega Science Vision 2035 for climate researchPrelims and Mains
Mega Science Vision 2035 for climate research is a community document, indicative rather than government policy, submitted to the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser.
- The Mega Science Vision exercise, used for long horizon planning in nuclear and high energy physics, was extended for the first time to climate research, ecology and astronomy.
What changed
3 Jun 2026BriefThe report, with the Indian Institute of Science as nodal institution, warns that India has almost lost the ability to build scientific instruments and runs imported equipment uncalibrated for years, producing incorrect published data. It proposes an indigenous Earth System Model, a method to estimate the social cost of carbon, and studies of the long term effects of large solar and wind plants. Mains: The call for domestic instruments sits uneasily with the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) procurement experience, partly rolled back in June 2025 after scientists found it blocked customised equipment. The Hindu, 3 Jun 2026: India losing ability to build its own instruments: climate science report (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 4 Jun 2026: Is climate research being held back by local instrumentation? | Explained (opens in a new tab)
TRL Compass
Copy link to TRL CompassPrelims
TRL Compass adapts the global nine level Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale to India as a common national standard for projects seeking public funding.
- It covers projects under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) and the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund.
- It replaces subjective judgement with a documented assessment of technology, manufacturing, quality and programme readiness.
- Many Indian innovations stall between laboratory and market because there is no shared way to judge how mature a technology is.
What changed
29 Jun 2026BriefThe Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser and the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) launched the platform on 29 June. Mains: India's scientific strength will be judged by its ability to turn research into deployable, commercially viable technology. PIB, 29 Jun 2026: Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser launches the TRL Compass Platform and Signs MoU with Data Security Council of India (DSCI) (opens in a new tab)
See also: Anusandhan National Research Foundation · Research, Development and Innovation Fund
Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya
Copy link to Bharatiya Nirdeshak DravyaPrelims
Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravyas are Indian certified reference materials that give laboratories, industry and regulators measurement standards.
- They improve accuracy and traceability and reduce reliance on imported standards.
- The mandate of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) is to establish the country's measurement standards.
What changed
16 Jun 2026BriefTen reference materials were released. PIB, 16 Jun 2026: Seven CSIR Technologies Licensed to Industry; Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravyas Released and Quantum Sensing Components Delivered to DRDO (opens in a new tab)