Budget Allocation for Research, Development and Innovation

Syllabus: GS3/Science and Technology

Context

The Union Budget has allocated ₹20,000 crore to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) for research, development and innovation.

Last year, in the interim Budget ₹1 lakh crore was announced for a fifty-year interest-free loan.
It will provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenures and low or nil interest rates.
This will encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation significantly in sunrise domains.

This will be a major step towards creating strategic autonomy in some key technology sectors.
The budget introduces several initiatives that align closely with DBT’s mission to advance India’s biotechnology sector.
The budget’s focus on public-private partnerships, industry collaboration, and technology-driven entrepreneurship will accelerate innovation in manufacturing, healthcare, sustainability, and strategic sectors.

India currently spends less than 1% of its GDP on research and development, which is low compared to technologically advanced countries.
A major reason for this is the limited participation by the private sector — now hovering around 30% — in core research and development.

Economic Growth: Drives new industries, improves productivity, and enhances global competitiveness.
Technological Advancement: Facilitates breakthroughs in fields like AI, biotechnology, and renewable energy.
Social Challenges: Helps address poverty, healthcare, education, and environmental sustainability issues.
Job Creation: Innovation generates employment opportunities and stimulates entrepreneurship.
Global Positioning: Positions India as a global leader in science, technology, and knowledge.
Attracts Investment: Promotes foreign and domestic investments in research-driven sectors.

Funding Issues: Limited investment in research and development, especially in public institutions.
Infrastructure Gaps: Inadequate research facilities and resources in many institutions.
Brain Drain: Loss of talent to other countries due to better opportunities abroad.
Lack of Industry Collaboration: Limited partnerships between academia and industry for practical innovation.
Skill Gaps: Insufficient training and development of skilled researchers and innovators.
Regulatory Challenges: Complex regulations and intellectual property issues hinder innovation.

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, with the goal of making India a world leader in the geospatial sector.
The National Mission on High Yielding Seeds will focus on strengthening the research ecosystem and developing high-yielding, pest-resistant, and climate-resilient seeds, aligning with DBT’s efforts in agricultural biotechnology.
National Manufacturing Mission (NMM): Aligned with the government’s ‘BioE3 Policy’ for fostering high-performance biomanufacturing, the NMM announced in the Budget aims to accelerate technology development and commercialisation.
The Seaweed Mission and Learn & Earn Program empower women entrepreneurs, supporting economic inclusion.

With the recent initiative Startups and other private sector ventures will obtain seed money for their projects and are expected to get benefitted.
However to raise R&D spending there is a need to have increased partnership with the private sector.
Efforts are being made to create better synergies between industry, research labs, and educational institutions in order to broad-base both research activity and the funds to support it.
- The Union Finance Minister has also announced several initiatives including the Nuclear Energy Mission, initiatives in clean tech, Atal Tinkering Labs, and the Centre of Excellence on AI in Education.

Source: TH

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