Lok Sabha Question No. 2944 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-20
Subject: PhD Scheme for Electronics and IT
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Ritesh Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED   QUESTION NO. 2944

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 20.12.2023

## PhD SCHEME FOR ELECTRONICS AND IT

## 2944.   SHRI RITESH PANDEY:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a) the quantum of funds allotted for the Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme for Electronics and IT during  the last two years;
- (b) the details of the funds sanctioned and released as part of the scheme, State/UT-wise during the last two years;
- (c) the number of scholars who have been provided support under the scheme during the last two years;
- (d) whether  research  and  development  exercises  are  being  conducted  for  the  smoother adaption of these scholars towards professional endeavours; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a) and (b):  Government is focused on creating talent pool that will catalyze and steer rapidly growing  digital  innovation  and  research  ecosystem.  The  Visvesvaraya  PhD  Scheme  is  an important part of this ecosystem. The scheme has been initiated by the Government with an objective  of  enhancing  the  number  of  PhDs  in  the  country  to  compete  globally  in  the knowledge intensive sectors of Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) and IT/IT Enabled Services (IT/ITES). Under the scheme, financial support is provided to PhD scholars and Young Faculty who are undertaking research and technology development. The Scheme also provides infrastructure support to institutions.

Visvesvaraya  PhD  Scheme  is  an  institutional  scheme  where  funds  are  released  to  the academic institutions across the country. During the last two years (i.e. FY 2021-22 and FY 2022-23), Rs. 26.86 crore were allotted and released under the scheme. The details of funds released to State/UT during the last two years are provided as Annexure-I.

- (c):  Under  Visvesvaraya  PhD  scheme,  a  total  of  273  PhD  scholars  have  been  provided support during the last two years.
- (d)  and  (e): Yes  Sir.  Under  the  scheme,  PhD  scholars  pursue  the  research  in  emerging technology areas for smoother adaption of these scholars towards professional endeavours. Further,  there  is  provision  for  PhD  scholars  to  collaborate  with  the  institutions  across  the world for their research work.

Under  the  scheme,  research  scholars  have  published  more  than  5750  research  papers  in reputed journals like IEEE, Elsevier, Springer etc. Research Workshops are conducted under the scheme for guiding research scholars for course correction and motivation.

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Annexure-I

Funds released to State/UT during the last two yearsunder Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme

| 1     | Andhra Pradesh    |   0.40 |
|-------|-------------------|--------|
| 2     | Arunachal Pradesh |   0.2  |
| 3     | Assam             |   0.88 |
| 4     | Bihar             |   1.27 |
| 5     | Chandigarh        |   0.21 |
| 6     | Chhattisgarh      |   0.05 |
| 7     | Delhi             |   5.73 |
| 8     | Goa               |   0.17 |
| 9     | Gujarat           |   0.86 |
| 10    | Haryana           |   0.06 |
| 11    | Himachal Pradesh  |   0.44 |
| 12    | Jammu &Kashmir    |   0.25 |
| 13    | Jharkhand         |   0.03 |
| 14    | Karnataka         |   1.56 |
| 15    | Kerala            |   0.21 |
| 16    | Madhya Pradesh    |   2.4  |
| 17    | Maharashtra       |   0.99 |
| 18    | Meghalaya         |   0.25 |
| 19    | Odisha            |   0.06 |
| 20    | Puducherry        |   0.03 |
| 21    | Punjab            |   0.45 |
| 22    | Rajasthan         |   0.83 |
| 23    | Sikkim            |   0.14 |
| 24    | Tamil Nadu        |   1.53 |
| 25    | Telangana         |   3.08 |
| 26    | Uttar Pradesh     |   2.63 |
| 27    | Uttrakhand        |   0.39 |
| 28    | West Bengal       |   1.76 |
| Total | Total             |  26.86 |

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