Research Institutes in India

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

Establishment: 1942

Headquarter: New Delhi

- CSIR is a cutting edge R&D organisation dealing in diverse fields of science and technology.

- It has a dynamic network of 37 national laboratories, 39 outreach centres, 1 Innovation knowledge base and three units with a pan-India presence.

• CSIR undertakes research, design & development of scientific & industrial instruments, components and systems.
• It facilitates service, maintenance, testing & calibration of instruments.
• It promotes Human Resource Development in the area of instrumentation.
• It offers technical assistance to industry and provides ecosystem support.

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

Establishment: 1962 

Headquarter: Bengaluru

- It is a government space agency of India under the Department of Space.

- It harnesses, sustains and augments space technology for national development, while pursuing space science research and planetary exploration.

- The organisation is involved in harvesting the benefits of outer space for India and mankind.

- It executes the Indian Space Programme primarily through various centres or units within ISRO.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

Establishment: 1942

Headquarter: New Delhi

- DRDO falls under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence.

- It has a network of more than 50 laboratories which are deeply engaged in developing defence technologies covering various disciplines.

- It is involved in the indigenous development and production of strategic arms and weapon systems such as the Agni and Prithvi series of missiles; light combat aircraft, Tejas etc.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

Establishment: 1929 

Headquarter: New Delhi

- ICAR is an autonomous organisation, registered as a society, under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

- It is under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

- The Council is responsible for the research, development and education in agriculture. This includes horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences.

- It supervises 113 ICAR institutes and 74 agricultural universities in India.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)

Establishment: 1954

Headquarter: Mumbai

- To exploit nuclear energy for the benefit of the nation the Atomic Energy Establishment (AEET) was established in Trombay in January 1954.

• With this, a multidisciplinary ambitious nuclear program research program started in India.

- AEET was renamed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) In 1966.

- Its core function is to provide peaceful applications of nuclear energy in India.

• It is involved in R&D of Fuel reprocessing, Reactor Technologies, Fuel reprocessing, Isotope Applications, waste management, etc. and their civil applications.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) 

Establishment: 1911 (Indian Research Fund Association)

Headquarter: New Delhi

- Its vision is totranslate their research into action for improving the health of the population.

- It conducts, coordinates and implements medical research for the benefit of the society.

- It translates medical innovations into products or processes and introduces them into the public health system.

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)

Establishment: 1988

Headquarter: Pune

- C-DAC is the premier organisation for carrying out research and development in IT, Electronics and associated areas.

- It comes under the aegis of the MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology).

- The setting up of C-DAC was the result of the denial of import of Supercomputers by the USA.

- Since then C-DAC has been undertaking the building of multiple generations of Supercomputer starting from PARAM series to the latest AI supercomputer 'AIRAWAT'.

Anusandhan National Research Foundation

Establishment: 2023

Headquarter: Delhi

- Anusandhan National Research Foundation act, 2023 provides for establishing the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (NRF).

- It repeals the erstwhile Science and Engineering Research Board Act, 2008 and dissolves the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) set up under it. 

- It aims at equitable funding and democratisation of resources in research and academics.

-It comes under the Ministry of Science and Technology. 

Indian Institute of Science (IISc)

Establishment: 1909

Place: Bangalore

- IISc was established by a visionary partnership between the industrialist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the Mysore royal family and the Government of India. 

- it was selected as an Institution of Eminence (IoE) by the Government of India in 2008.

- It is mandated to provide for advanced instruction and to conduct original investigations in all branches of knowledge that are likely to promote the material and industrial welfare of India.

Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB)

Establishment: 1977

Place: Hyderabad

- CCMB is a premier institute in the research of modern biology and operates under the guidance of the CSIR.

- It has been accorded the status of a full-fledged national laboratory with its own Executive Committee and Scientific Advisory Council.

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

Establishment: 1945

Headquarter: Mumbai 

- TIFR was founded with the support of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust under the vision of Dr. Homi Bhabha.

- It receives funds from the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India.

- Sister institutes at

• Pune (National Centre for Radio Astrophysics).
• Hyderabad (TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences). 
• Bengaluru (International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, National Centre for Biological Sciences, and Centre for Applicable Mathematics).

National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR)

Establishment: 1998

Headquarter: Goa

- Itis India’s premier Research and Development institution dedicated to the country’s research activities in the polar and Southern Ocean realms.

- It operates under the  Ministry of Earth Sciences.

- Research Station:

• Maitri: India based research stations at Antarctica since 1998. It was undertaken to understand the Polar processes and phenomena.
• Bharti: It is also a research station at Antarctica.Bharti was established in March, 2013
• Himadri: It is India’s first research station located at the International Arctic Research base at Svalbard, Norway. It is located 1,200 km away from the North Pole. It was established in 2008.

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) 

Establishment: 1971

Place: Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu

- Its objective is to conduct a broad based multidisciplinary programme of scientific research and advanced engineering.

- Its mission is directed towards the development of sodium cooled Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) technology in India.

• Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR): This is the second stage of the Indian Atomic Energy Programme.

The Harish-Chandra Research Institute (HRI)

Establishment: 1975

Place: Prayagraj (Allahabad)

- HRI is named after the mathematician Harish-Chandra.

- It is a premier institution dedicated to research in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.

• It is an autonomous institute, receiving funds from the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India.

Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre

Establishment: 1977

Place: Kolkata

- VECC is a constituent institute of Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI). 

- It is mandated to carry out research in experimental nuclear physics, radiation damage studies and isotope production for research and nuclear medicine. 

- VECC has 3 Cyclotrons:

• K130 Cyclotron 
• K500 Superconducting Cyclotron
• 30 MeV H- medical cyclotron

Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT)

Establishment: 1984

Place: Indore 

Institute for Plasma Research (IPR)

Establishment: 1984

Place: Ahmedabad

- It is an autonomous R&D organisation under the authority of the Department of Atomic Energy.

- It is involved in theoretical and experimental studies in plasma science including basic plasma physics, magnetically confined hot plasmas and plasma technologies for industrial application.

- It is the nodal agency to design, build and deliver India's contribution to ITER.

Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)

Establishment: 1988

Place: Pune

- It is an autonomous Institution of the University Grants Commission.

- IUCAA, Institute for Plasma Research and Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology have been associated with theLIGO-India project.

Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST)

Establishment: 2013

Place: Mohali 

- INST as an autonomous institution under the supervision of the Department of Science and Technology, has been established under the NANO mission (Mission on Nano Science and Technology).

• NANO mission has a mandate to boost research and development in nanoscience and nanotechnology in India.

National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG)

Establishment: 2009

Place: Kalyani, West Bengal

- NIBMG is an autonomous institution that functions under the aegis of the Department of Biotechnology. 

- It is the first institute in India specifically devoted to research in Biomedical Genomics.

- It works toward the prediction, prevention, and cure of diseases as well as giving insight into their development and progression.