National Research Foundation Bill 2023 to be introduced soon, to be led by PM Modi: Anurag Thakur

NEW DELHI: National Research Foundation Bill 2023 will be introduced in the Parliament soon, Union minister of information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur said during a cabinet briefing today. The governing board which will include 20-25 researchers will be led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the minister said.

The proposed National Research Foundation will focus on creating a policy framework and putting in place regulatory processes that can encourage collaboration and increased spending by the industry on R&D. The new scheme of the government will fund cutting-edge science, especially for the state universities and will strengthen India's research competence. Executive Council led by the principal scientific advisor will decide on the qualifying criteria for research, the minister informed.

The minister said Rs 50,000 crores will be spent in five years and the NRF will also receive an innovation fund of Rs 1,000 crore.

ALSO READ | DST hikes JRF, SRF, PhD fellowship stipends; mixed reactions from scholars

“Rs 14,000 crore from Centre, rest Rs 36,000 crore to be mobilised from philanthropists, public sector enterprises, global funding agencies etc,” he added.

The Union minister of science and technology Jitendra Singh took to Twitter to thank PM Narendra Modi for Cabinet approval for setting up National Research Foundation in affiliation with the Department of Science & Technology (DST). "This will foster a vibrant culture of research innovation, academics, industrial applications and #Startups in the country and enhance India's role as a Global player," he said.

Since the scope of the NRF is wide-ranging – impacting all ministries - the Prime Minister will be the ex-officio President of the Board and the Union minister of science and technology and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan will be the ex-officio vice-presidents, the official statement read.

The NRF Bill will also repeal the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) established by an act of Parliament in 2008 and subsume it into NRF which has an expanded mandate and covers activities over and above the activities of SERB, it added.

During the Union Budget 2023 announcement, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs 2,000 crore to National Research Foundation (NRF) as a component of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and not as an agency independent of the government. As per the Budget 2023, the ministry of science and technology had received an allocation of Rs 16,361.42 crore, with the DST receiving Rs 7,931.05 crore.