Lok Sabha Question No. 2527 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-18
Subject: Funds for Research Projects of IITs &amp; IISCs
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Manoj Kishorbhai Kotak, Raksha Nikhil Khadse

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2527 ANSWERED ON 18/12/2023

## Funds for Research Projects of IITs & IISCs

## 2527. SHRI MANOJ KOTAK : SHRIMATI RAKSHA NIKHIL KHADSE:

Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware that the Indian science especially in research field is passing through a quagmire situation as no funds have been released for the Research Projects from the elite institutes of the country like IITs & IISCs;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has instructed the respective departments towards initiating steps for release of amount held back for last more than a year in a time bound manner; and

(d) whether  the  Government  is  regularly  releasing  enough  funds  for  carrying  out  the research activity without any hindrances in future for the science research projects?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUBHAS SARKAR)

(a) to (d): IITs and IISc receives funds under various research schemes from various central Ministries  such  as  Ministry  of  Education,  Ministry  of  Electronics  &  Information  Technology, Ministry  of  Science  &  Technology,  through  their  various  departments  such  as  Department  of Science  &  Technology  (DST),  Department  of  Scientific  &  Industrial  Research  (DSIR)  and Department of Bio-Technology (DBT) etc. Additionally, they also receive research grants from industry,  alumni,  philanthropic  contributions,  etc.  Ministry  of  Education  releases  funds  under different  research  schemes  such  as  Uchchatar  Avishkar  Yojana  (UAY),  Impacting  Research Innovation  and  Technology  (IMPRINT),  Scheme  for  promotion  of  Research  and  Academic Collaboration  (SPARC),  Scheme  for  Transformational  and  Advanced  Research  in  Sciences (STARS),  etc.,  for  promotion  of  research  ecosystem  of  country's  Higher  Education  Institutes. This Ministry also releases funds to IITs and IISc for salary, pension, scholarships/fellowships, equipment  related  expenses  and  other  recurring/non-recurring  expenditure  on  monthly  basis based  on  the  demand  estimates  received  from  these  Institutions  viz-a-viz  their  budgetary allocation. Fund flow is a continuous process and funds are released to various institutions based on the approved cost of the concerned research project and demand raised under recurring and non-recurring heads.

The impact of the consistent efforts by the Government is attested by the latest available R&D  statistics  brought  out  by  DST,  as  per  which,  the  Gross  Expenditure  on  Research  and Development  (GERD)  in  the  country  has  been  consistently  increasing  over  the  years  and  has more than doubled from Rs.60,196.75 crore in 2010-11 to Rs.1,27,380.96 crore in 2020-21. As per R&D statistics at a glance 2022-23, India occupies 3 rd rank in terms of the number of PhDs awarded in Science and Engineering (S&E). Further, as per Elsevier Report, the total number of publications has also increased from 6,61,912 in (2012-2016) to 10,12,624 in (2017-2021).

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