Lok Sabha Question No. 794 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-05
Subject: New Science, Technology and Innovation Policy
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, Supriya Sadanand Sule, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, DNV Senthilkumar. S.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 794 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05/02/2021

New Science, Technology and Innovation Policy

## 794.    SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE:

DR. DNV SENTHIL KUMAR S.:

Will  the  Minister  of  SCIENCE  AND  TECHNOLOGY वान और ौयोगक मंी be pleased to state:

- (a)        whether the Government has formulated any new Science, Technology, Innovation Policy;
- (b) if so, the salient features of the said policy;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  considering  involving  private  sector  in contributing Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) in the coming years and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government is planning to set up Science-Technology and Innovation  Development  Bank  for  direct  investments  on  various  long  and medium-term projects in select strategic areas and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government is preparing any broad programme for making the National Science Policy all persuasive and all-inclusive in view of lack of research  in  basic  field  of  science  and  importance  of  patents  in  this  field through modification and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the steps taken by the Government for investing more funds in the field of research?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE; MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; AND MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

वाय और परवार कयाण मंी , वान और ौयोगक मंी और पृ वी वान मंी ( डॉ . हष वधन )

- (a)       Sir,   a new draft Science, Technology & Innovation Policy (STIP) has been formulated and is presently at consultation stage.
- (b)        The  draft  policy  is  aimed  at  being  bottom  up,  decentralized,  inclusive, evidence-driven and knowledge-supported. The draft STIP envisions the aspirations of  a  new,  future-ready  India  by  ensuring  active  participation,  shared  responsibility and equitable ownership of all stakeholders; transforming the national STI landscape maintaining the delicate balance between fortifying India's indigenous capacity and nurturing meaningful global inter-connectedness.
- (c)         The  draft  STI  policy  outlines  efforts  for  increased  contribution  of  private sector in the Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) through expansion of the STI  (Science,  Technology  and  innovation)  financing  landscape,  incentivization  for STI  investments,  STI  collaborative  funding  model,  governance  of  STI  financing landscape, building a robust innovation ecosystem, and many others.
- (d)       The  draft  STI  policy  inter-alia  contemplates  setting  up  of  an  institutional mechanism to facilitate a corpus fund for investing in direct long-term investments in select  strategic  areas  on  various  long  and  medium-term  projects,  commercial ventures,  start-ups,  technology  diffusion  and  licensing  to  address  identified  priority areas in the STI ecosystem.
- (e)        The  draft  STI  policy  is  aimed  to  be  all  persuasive  and  all-inclusive  in strengthening  the research  in basic as  well  as translational  areas  and  also encouraging the researchers in view of the importance of patents.
- (f)         The  Government  has  been  giving  high  priority  to  the  field  of  research  and initiated several steps for investing more funds. These resulted into gradual increase in India's Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) over the years.  GERD increased by nearly 2 times during last 6 years.

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