{"id":121234,"date":"2026-08-27T11:19:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T05:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=121234"},"modified":"2026-08-27T11:19:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T05:49:22","slug":"research-funding-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/research-funding-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Funding in India &#8211; NITI Aayog&#8217;s Findings"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Research Funding Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A recent <\/span><b>NITI Aayog report on \u2018Ease of Doing R&amp;D in India\u2019<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, along with surveys covering more than <\/span><b>400 institutional leaders and 850 scientists<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, has highlighted gaps in India&#8217;s research funding ecosystem.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Research and Development in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research and Development refers to systematic work undertaken to generate new knowledge, develop technologies, improve existing products and processes, and solve scientific and technological problems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">R&amp;D is important for economic growth because it can improve productivity, technological capabilities, innovation and competitiveness.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public funding is particularly important in areas where research involves high risks, long gestation periods or uncertain commercial returns.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s public R&amp;D ecosystem includes multiple ministries, departments and agencies that provide grants to universities, research institutions and individual scientists.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/anusandhan-national-research-foundation-anrf\/\" target=\"_blank\">Anusandhan National Research Foundation<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (ANRF) is the country&#8217;s flagship research funding body, established to promote research and innovation across universities, colleges, research institutions and laboratories.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, effective public funding requires not only adequate financial resources but also the ability to answer basic questions: Who received funding? Which agency provided it? For what research? How much was provided? And has similar research already received public funding elsewhere?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NITI Aayog report, supported by inputs from more than <\/span><b>400 institutional leaders and 850 scientists<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, found that <\/span><b>close to 80% of funding under the ANRF is concentrated in the IITs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is significant because the ANRF was created with a broader mandate to expand the research base beyond the traditional concentration of public research funding.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The finding raises questions about whether public R&amp;D funding is reaching a sufficiently broad range of universities and research institutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, concentration of funding by itself does not necessarily indicate inefficient allocation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High-performing institutions may receive larger amounts because of their research capacity, infrastructure and ability to undertake complex projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The larger policy issue is whether capable researchers and institutions outside these established centres have adequate opportunities to access competitive research funding.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Fragmented Research Funding Data<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A major problem identified in the report is the absence of a <\/span><b>unified system for tracking public R&amp;D funding<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Information about publicly funded research is currently spread across numerous government agency databases.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These databases often use different formats and may contain information as <\/span><b>free text rather than structured data<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This creates difficulties in identifying researchers, institutions and projects across agencies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, the same researcher may be recorded differently in the databases of the <\/span><b>Department of Science and Technology (DST)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the <\/span><b>Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, an institution may appear as &#8220;IISc, Bangalore&#8221; in one database and &#8220;Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru&#8221; in another.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Risk of Overlapping Research Funding<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fragmented nature of the data also creates the possibility that <\/span><b>multiple Central agencies may fund similar or overlapping research areas<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without a system linking grants, researchers, institutions and research outputs, it becomes difficult for funding agencies to determine whether a particular research proposal is substantially similar to work that has already received public funding.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This can result in inefficient use of public resources and makes it difficult to assess the overall distribution of research funding across different fields and institutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Persistent Digital Identifiers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report identifies <\/span><b>Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><b> metadata infrastructure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as a possible solution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A PID is a permanent, unique and machine-readable identifier assigned to an entity. The report compares it with a <\/span><b>PAN number for a taxpayer or an IMEI number for a mobile phone<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For research funding, each grant could receive a unique identifier linked to standardised metadata, including:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Funding agency<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recipient institution<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Named researcher<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amount of funding<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Duration of the grant<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research field<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The grant identifier could then be connected with the research outputs generated from the funding, such as <\/span><b>research papers, patents and datasets<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This would enable funding agencies and independent researchers to analyse how public research money is distributed and what outcomes it produces.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>International Models<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The international non-profit organisation <\/span><b>Crossref<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> operates a <\/span><b>Grant Linking System<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that connects research funding information using several identifiers. These include:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Funder ID<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; identifies the funding agency<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>ROR ID<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; identifies the research organisation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>ORCID<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; identifies individual researchers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Grant DOI<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; provides a permanent identifier for the grant itself<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the experts, more than <\/span><b>2 lakh grants<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have been registered through this system worldwide.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such a system can help answer questions about <\/span><b>duplicate funding, concentration of research resources and allocation across research fields<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Two Broad Options for India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>A New National System<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India could develop a completely independent <\/span><b>sovereign national grant registry<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The advantage would be greater control over the system and the ability to incorporate India&#8217;s specific institutional structure, including research schemes operated by State governments.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Integration with Existing Global Infrastructure<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The second option would be for Indian funding agencies to join and consistently contribute data to existing international infrastructure such as the <\/span><b>Crossref ecosystem<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This could be implemented more quickly because technical standards and governance mechanisms already exist.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>A Hybrid Approach<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Experts propose a possible middle path combining national ownership with international compatibility.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Countries such as the <\/span><b>United Kingdom and the European Union<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have developed government-owned research portals while ensuring that their identifiers remain compatible with global standards.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For India, the proposed <\/span><b>Unified Project Management System (UPMS)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> could perform a similar function. Under this approach:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UPMS could act as a single national portal.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Central and State funding agencies could use the system.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grants could receive <\/span><b>Crossref-compatible identifiers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research institutions could be linked through <\/span><b>ROR IDs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Individual researchers could be linked through <\/span><b>ORCID<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such interoperability could make it easier to identify duplicate funding, examine concentration of resources and track research outcomes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Significance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A unified research funding database would improve <\/span><b>transparency, coordination and evidence-based policymaking<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in India&#8217;s R&amp;D ecosystem.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It could help policymakers determine whether public research funding is adequately distributed across institutions and disciplines, identify duplication, evaluate outcomes and make better decisions regarding future funding priorities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For researchers, standardised identifiers could also make their research and funding history easier to track across institutions and agencies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/why-india-research-ecosystem-needs-a-map-of-where-the-money-really-goes\/article71391727.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NITI Aayog&#8217;s report on Ease of Doing R&#038;D in India highlights concentration of research funding and fragmented research databases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":121250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,9820,22,59],"class_list":["post-121234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-mains-articles","tag-research-funding","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs-tag","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121234"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121257,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121234\/revisions\/121257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}