The scheme, to be run for an initial period of five years, may be run by state-run agencies like National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a senior official told FE.
The Centre may a draw up a comprehensive scheme to provide concessional capital support to the tune of Rs 1 trillion to private sector to encourage them to adopt indigenous deep-tech and cutting-edge technologies in defence, energy and electronics.
The scheme, to be run for an initial period of five years, may be run by state-run agencies like National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a senior official told FE.
Consultations are going on among concerned government departments and various scientific departments and institutions, the official added. “The idea is to encourage Indian technology in emerging areas, and cut reliance on imported technology,” the official said.
Indian research institutions come up with various technologies with their research and development (R&D). “Some of these technologies may already be available abroad. Normally, Indian firms take tested foreign technology as they don’t explore untested local local technology with the same enthusiasm.
By giving the concessional window of financing, companies can take the Indian technology for their product development with lesser risk because they could get long-term loans at low or nil rates of interest with a moratorium, etc.
“The government will promote indigenous technology to be adopted by the private sector in cutting-edge areas. These would be technologies of the future in energy, and electronics, among others,” the official added.
The Centre reckons that research and innovation will catalyse growth, employment and development as India aims to sustain high economic growth to become a developed nation by 2047.
In the Budget for 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “For our tech-savvy youth, this will be a golden era. A corpus of rupees one lakh crore will be established with fifty-year interest free loan. The corpus will provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low or nil interest rates. This will encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation significantly in sunrise domains. We need to have programmes that combine the powers of our youth and technology.”
The said capex fund is with the Department of Economic Affairs which would provide annual funding to private sector based on their project offtakes.
India is increasingly focusing on deep tech sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotics, biotechnology, and advanced materials. Deep tech refers to technologies that are based on scientific discoveries and engineering innovations, often requiring substantial R&D investments and having the potential for significant impact across various industries.
India has a large pool of highly skilled engineers, scientists, and researchers, many of whom are engaged in cutting-edge research and development in deep tech areas. India has a natural advantage in cutting-edge technology areas in IT, product, and software development, which often have functions that can affect multiple industries.
Initiatives such as industry-academia partnerships, technology incubators, and accelerators facilitate collaboration and support the commercialization of deep tech research. While India has made significant strides in deep tech, there are still challenges to overcome, such as the need for greater investment in R&D, improvement in infrastructure, and addressing regulatory and policy hurdles.
India’s gross expenditure on R&D was one of the lowest among major economies at around 0.7% of GDP compared with its BRICS peers— China (2.4%), Brazil (1.3%) and Russia (1.1%).
Source:financialexpress.com