The Ministry of Education (MOE) is seeking to build research parks at IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati, and IIT Kanpur, as well as IISc Banglore. This step will nourish the scientific and logical minds, further building a robust research ecosystem.
The Central government has given a green flag for this initiative. Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar delivered crucial information to Lok Sabha on 7 August 2023. He further stated that research parks at IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, and IIT Kharagpur are fully functional, and others are on the verge of being completed.
The minister stated that “The main objectives of these Research Park are to have research collaboration with top-rated industries, to enable entrepreneurship and incubation of students and building strong academic linkages for the same, to increase the outreach of academic content to industry and enabling industry to add value to the academic program through close collaborations, etc.”
The Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh presented the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Bill 2023 in Lok Sabha on 4 August 2023. The bill laid the foundation for financial support for National Universities. It was approved by the House of People on 7 August 2023.
To “seed, promote and grow,” the bill proposes a budget of INR 50,000 crores with the aim of research and development in higher education institutions. The National Research Foundation (NRF) would prepare the budget for 5 years.
