oppn parties Jai Anusandhan Gets A Leg-Up

News Snippets

  • PM Modi says that if Congress is voted to power in Haryana, the state will face the same financial problems that Himachal is facing under the party's rule
  • Competition Commission of India has said that smartphone majors are colluding with e-commerce firms to exclusively launch products on their platforms in alleged breach of anti-trust laws
  • Supreme Court rules that delay in claiming compensation for land acquisition by the government is no excuse to deny it as it is the duty of the government to pay the compensation.
  • PM Modi said that terrorism was breathing its last in J&K
  • Conbgress has alleged that Sebi chief Madhabi Buch traded in listed securities and invested in China-focused funds during her tnure at the agency
  • India to sing $4bn Predator drone deal with US
  • Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has disclosed that the opposition parties backed him as Prime Minister in place of Narendra Modi but he refused.
  • Noted economist Ajit Ranade removed as VC of Gokhale Institute of Politics & Economics in Pune due to not fulfilling eligibility criteria related to teaching experience
  • Chess Olympiad: Arjun Erigaisi wins his fourth consecutive game
  • Asian Champions Trophy hockey- India beat Pakistan 2-1 in a tough match to remain unbeaten in the group stage. They will meet Korea in the semifinals
  • Davis Cup: S Balaji and R Ramanathan lose, India 0-2 down on first day
  • Delhi Police arrested Sangram Dass, said to be the kingpin of an inter-state new-born baby tafficking racket, from Kolkata after a 1500-km chase
  • NC leader Omar Abdullah alleged that the B|JP was forging secret deals with some regional parties and independents to form the government in J&K
  • Rajasthan Police has devised a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), as directed by the Rajasthan HC, to help married and live-in couples facing threats from families and others. It icludes helplines and safe houses
  • A 3-storey building collapsed in the busy Transport Nager area in Lucknow killing 8 and injuring 28 others
Junior doctors do not agree to meet Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee without live-streaming of meeting /////// CBI arrests ex-principal of R G Kar College Sandip Ghosh and OC of Tala PS in Kolkata, Abhijit Mondal' for destrcution of evidence in the rape-murder case
oppn parties
Jai Anusandhan Gets A Leg-Up

By Ashwini Agarwal
First publised on 2024-02-04 08:22:18

Technology-based innovation has been the main driver of growth in sunrise sectors in India and has given birth to innumerable start-ups many of which have attained unicorn status. Patents have also shown a significant growth. But with the pool of talent available in India, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many tech-savvy youngsters who are pegged back for lack of funds. The Finance Minister has announced a new fund with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh cr in the interim budget that will provide interest-free or very low-interest loans for 50 years for research and innovation in deep tech for "defence purposes and Atmanirbharta". The finance minister said that "a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore will be established with 50-year interest free loan provided. The corpus will provide long-term financing or re-financing 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".

The need for research and innovation cannot be understated in any domain. It is more so in deep tech as the field is vast and unexplored. But it is a time-consuming and costly affair which sometimes yields no positive or path-breaking result. Hence, researchers cannot afford to pay interest on the capital they borrow. Keeping this in mind, the corpus will provide interest-free or very low interest loans for periods up to 50 years. This will be a shot in the arm for those companies that are in the business of research in deep tech to come out with innovative products.

With Prime Minister Modi adding Jai Anusandhan to Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan (the first two were coined by Lal Bahadur Shashtri and the third was added by Atal Bihari Vajpayee), it was time that the government supported research and innovation in a big way. The corpus announced in the interim budget is a welcome step in that direction.