Abhay Karandikar: ‘Research and development aid from pvt sources not at cost of govt funding’

The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) aims to bring in private funding for Science. How will it affect government funding?

Private funding envisioned in ANRF will not be at the cost of government funding. In fact, the objective is not to merely increase private funding, but to increase industry-academia collaborations. When such collaborations happen, we expect the industry to fund the projects partially and be serious stakeholders. After all, they are to be benefitted as the industry would ultimately commercialise technology.

In fact, government funding has almost doubled at Rs 14,000 crore over five years. Any funding from the industry will be an addition to that. When you have to increase spending on R&D as a percentage of GDP, it cannot be from government funding alone. So, private sources and the industry have to contribute, and NRF would create an enabling environment for the partnership.

With ANRF funding, it would only become better and easier. The government’s vision with the foundation is to improve the quantity, but more importantly, the quality of funding.

How will NRF improve the quality of funding?

NRF will essentially improve the R&D and the technology development landscapes of the country. Another important objective is to enhance the infrastructure in tier II and III institutions. We can have a hub and spoke model for that, where tier I institutions will act as hubs. Apart from fundamental and basic science research, it would also encourage translational research and ones with a societal and national impact. This will also enable various science bodies to synergise and interact with each other.

If you look at the governing board of NRF, which will be chaired by the Prime Minister, it has the Principal Scientific Advisor, along with secretaries of DST, Department of Biotechnology, and Indian Council of Medical Research as members of board.

Coming to quantum mission, what is DST working on?

Under the quantum mission, our plan is to set up four or likely five hubs across the country. These hubs will be anchored in an institute, with other institutions or startups working as spokes. These mission hubs will be in the areas of quantum computing, quantum communications, quantum sensing metrology, and quantum material and devices — four key divisions. We will select mission hubs, groups of institutions that have expertise in the said areas, and then give them appropriate funding. These hubs could incubate startups or have industry as partners right from the beginning.

Why is quantum mission essential at present?

You know, just like wireless communications brought in a paradigm shift in communication, quantum technology will bring a paradigm shift in computing and communication… It will have a variety of applications, starting from fundamental science research and discoveries to applications such as material design… or drug discoveries, for example. If you have to do molecular level simulation for drug discovery applications, that will become possible.