What scientists make of R&D allocations in the 2025 Union Budget Premium
The Hindu
India's 2025-2026 Union Budget boosts research and innovation with significant funding for science, technology, and biotechnology sectors.
Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology (DST):
The Budget provides an overall and possibly unprecedented thrust on research and innovation by setting aside Rs 20,000 crore for DST towards research in the private sector, including corporates and startups.
There is a focused attempt to bring together academia, private sector and startups to work on national missions, such as the AI and quantum missions already underway, and the newly announced nuclear mission (to set up small and modular reactors), the geospatial mission, and others.
A key focus of the funding trend is to boost research, development and innovation. The dedicated fund of Rs 20,000 crore is part of the Rs 1 lakh crore corpus fund announced in the budget of July 2024 to boost private sector R&D, especially in deeptech and sunrise sectors. DST will be the nodal ministry driving this fund. This will be a major step towards creating strategic autonomy in some key technology sectors.
The National Geospatial Mission has been announced with an allocation of Rs 100 crore for FY 2025-2026 to develop foundational geospatial infrastructure and data. The mission will help implement the National Geospatial Policy 2022, notified by DST with the goal of expanding the access and use of geospatial data and making India a world leader in the geospatial sector.
The Union Finance Minister has also announced several initiatives to boost science, technology, and innovation in the country including the Nuclear Energy Mission, initiatives in clean tech, Atal Tinkering Labs, and the Centre of Excellence on AI in Education.
Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT):
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