PM Modi Launches Rs 1 Lakh Crore Innovation Fund at ESTIC

New Delhi, Nov 3 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a significant initiative to boost research and development in India, unveiling the Rs one lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. The announcement was made during the inaugural Emerging Science Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC), a forum designed to align policy-makers, innovators, and global leaders towards achieving the government’s ambitious Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.

This RDI Fund aims to stimulate private sector investment in R&D and will be managed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the nodal ministry in charge. A unique two-tiered funding mechanism will govern the Fund’s operation. Initially, a Special Purpose Fund (SPF) will be created within the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) to manage the vast corpus.

Rather than direct investments in startups and industries, the Fund will channel resources through second-level fund managers. These intermediaries may include Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), Development Finance Institutions (DFI), and Non-banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), to name a few.

Investment committees led by experts from financial, business, and technical spheres, operating independently from the government, will make support recommendations initiated by these second-level fund managers.

In addition, Prime Minister Modi introduced a coffee table book celebrating India's scientific accomplishments and unveiled a vision document for the country’s future in science and technology.

(Only the headline of this report may have been reworked by Editorji; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)