India’s research and development (R&D) ecosystem is undergoing a historic transformation. The country is shifting from a primarily public-funded research model to a private-sector-driven, innovation-led economy, backed by massive strategic investments.
This transformation directly supports the national vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047, with Investment and Innovation identified as two of the four core growth engines in the 2025–26 Union Budget. The focus is clear:
➡ Build global innovation leadership
➡ Strengthen deep-tech infrastructure
➡ Attract private capital into strategic sectors
➡ Create a strong research-to-commercialisation pipeline
🧠 Strategic Institutional Foundations
Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF)
Operational since 2024
Target: ₹50,000 crore mobilisation over 5 years
Purpose:
Provide strategic national direction in science & technology
Enable interdisciplinary research to solve complex societal challenges
Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme
Launched: November 2025
Fund size: ₹1 lakh crore
Focus:
Long-term, low-interest financing
Private-sector-led innovation
Strategic & sunrise sectors
Accelerating self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat) through industrial R&D
🚀 Deep Tech & Emerging Frontier Missions
Deep Tech Fund of Funds
Corpus: ₹10,000 crore
Expansion of SIDBI Fund of Funds
Purpose:
Support startups with long gestation cycles
Enable capital-intensive deep-tech innovation
IndiaAI Mission
Allocation: ₹10,371.92 crore
Focus areas:
AI governance frameworks
High-performance computing infrastructure
Scaling to 38,000 GPUs for research and startups
National Quantum Mission (NQM) (2023–2031)
Allocation: ₹6,003.65 crore
Objectives:
Secure quantum communication systems
Strategic hardware ecosystem development
India Semiconductor Mission
Combined funding (with NQM): ₹80,000+ crore
Goal:
Secure hardware supply chains
Global competitiveness in chip ecosystems
🎓 Human Capital & Academic Excellence
Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme
Fellowships: 10,000 PhD scholars
Institutions:
IISERs
IISc
Monthly stipend: ₹70,000 – ₹80,000
Objective:
Build elite research talent pipeline
Strengthen India’s global research capacity
🌱 Grassroots Innovation & Startup Ecosystem
Atal New India Challenge (ANIC)
(Flagship AIM Programme)
Grant support: Up to ₹1 crore
Beneficiaries:
Startups
MSMEs
Focus:
Solving national socio-economic challenges
NIDHI-PRAYAS (DST)
Funding: Up to ₹10 lakhs per innovator
Purpose:
Idea-to-prototype transition
Early-stage innovation support
GENESIS (MeitY)
Allocation: ₹490 crore
Target: 1,600 technology startups
Focus regions:
Tier-II cities
Tier-III cities
Goal:
Decentralised innovation growth
Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)
Corpus: ₹945 crore
Supports:
Product trials
Market entry
Commercialisation
Early-stage business validation
🏫 Innovation Pipeline from School to Startup
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) 2.0
10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs in schools
72+ Atal Incubation Centres
Impact:
Early-stage innovation exposure
Student entrepreneurship culture
🧪 Scientific Research & Capacity Building
Vigyan Dhara Scheme (DST)
Budget (2025–26): ₹1,425 crore
Focus:
Scientific research promotion
National research capacity building
Research Scheme of NITI Aayog (RSNA)
Revised: 2024
Supports:
Institutional research studies
Multi-sector socio-economic research
Policy-driven evidence frameworks
🌍 Global Impact & Outcomes
This multi-layered ecosystem is already delivering measurable global impact:
🇮🇳 India ranks 3rd globally in Science & Engineering PhDs
🌐 39th position in the Global Innovation Index
Rapid growth in:
Deep-tech startups
AI research
Quantum research
Semiconductor R&D
Academic–industry collaboration
🔥 Strategic Shift Summary
India is now building a full-stack innovation ecosystem:
| Layer | Focus |
|---|---|
| Policy | Long-term national innovation vision |
| Capital | Risk capital + deep-tech funding |
| Talent | Research fellows + academic pipelines |
| Infrastructure | AI compute, quantum labs, semiconductors |
| Startups | Seed funding → scale funding |
| Education | School-level innovation exposure |
| Industry | Private sector R&D participation |
Final Narrative Positioning
India’s R&D ecosystem is no longer fragmented — it is now integrated, capital-backed, mission-driven, and globally aligned.
By addressing the two biggest barriers to innovation — risk capital and infrastructure access — the country is rapidly positioning itself as a global leader in original, technology-led growth.
This is not just funding.
This is nation-scale innovation architecture.
Viksit Bharat @ 2047 is no longer a vision — it is an engineered roadmap.
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