₹1-lakh crore R&D fund to boost private sector participation in India's economy: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

The government's new ₹1 lakh crore R&D fund will help draw private players into key sectors—including nuclear and space—boosting India's long-term economic growth, Minister Jitendra Singh said. He credited Prime Minister Modi for opening previously restricted areas and said the fund will provide early support to private firms until they become self-sustaining contributors to India's innovation ecosystem.

The newly unveiled ₹1 lakh crore fund for research and development (R&D) activities would facilitate private players to become a part of India's economic growth, and open new sectors, including nuclear and space industries, a senior minister said.

"It (fund) has been welcomed by every section of society. More so, the private sector. This credit goes to Prime Minister Modi, because he had the capacity to break the taboos of the past. Suddenly, he has opened those sectors which nobody ever expected, including nuclear and space," Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Earth Sciences, and Science & Technology; and Minister of State for the Department of Space and Atomic Energy, told ET.

“To incentivise them (private players) and give them some initial hand-holding or push, we have this ₹1 lakh crore RDI (Research Development & Innovation) fund,” he added.

The government expects that the private players will become self-sustainable and a part of India's economic package as it grows. “They will be an economic tool to make them contributors to that wider economic pool of India."

Singh said that the Centre has created agencies such as the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN–SPACe) and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) to boost growth, as they function as an interface between the private sector and public sector.

In 2023, the Centre established the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), with a majority of resources outside the government.

"For the first time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a different direction. If you see the success stories globally. They (private companies) don't depend on the government, and don't even have time to visit the government secretariat. We have to follow the same strategy where our dependence on government reduces, and it becomes more of a facilitator, and not a funding agency."

Further, Singh said that this is what is being sought through path-breaking initiatives, such as the ANRF and RDI fund, as well as the BioE3, a dedicated biotechnology policy. "We are among the first few countries that have a dedicated biotechnology policy."

Early this month, Modi launched the RDI fund to promote private sector investments in research and development (R&D) that could give a fillip to the ambitious Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) roadmap.

The arrangement includes a two-tier process led by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) as a nodal department to operationalise the ₹1-lakh crore corpus.
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Source: EconomicTimes
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