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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3132
ANSWERED ON 11/03/2026
HIGH-IMPACT RESEARCH AREAS
3132. DR. K SUDHAKAR:
Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:
(a) the details of progress made after the first Governing Board meeting
of Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF);
(b) the details of the grants awarded and high-impact research areas
supported;
(c) whether the Department has assessed innovation ecosystem boost
and proposes additional missions; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)
(a) to (b): Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the first meeting of
the Governing Board of Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF)
on 10th September, 2024. The meeting focussed on discussion about India’s
Science and Technology landscape and redesigning of research and
development programmes. The board discussed several areas of strategic
interventions of ANRF which include India’s international status in
important sectors, aligning R&D with national priorities, promoting
inclusive growth, capacity building, driving scientific advances and
innovation ecosystem, as well as bridging the gap between academic
research and industrial applications. The major programs initiated by ANRF
since its inceptions are given below:-
Mission for Advancement in High-impact Areas (MAHA) program of
ANRF addresses priority-driven, solution-focused research in mission-
mode that would catalyse multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary and
multi-investigator collaboration to address scientific challenges and
advance the frontiers of technology in key scientific areas. So far,
ANRF has identified and launched Electric Vehicle (EV) Mission, 2D
Innovation Hub, MedTech Mission, AI for Science and Engineering and
Page 1 of 4CRM Research Program as the priority areas of focus under MAHA
program.
Several broad-based programs like Advanced Research Grant (ARG),
Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant (PMECRG), Inclusivity
Research Grant (IRG) launched by ANRF to providing financial
assistance to researchers and scientists in academic institutions in
order to create supportive environment for doing research in frontier
areas of science and engineering all across the country.
Convergence Research Centres of Excellence (CoE) to establish
"convergence" research Centres of Excellence (CoEs) launched by
ANRF to undertake cutting edge, innovative and impactful research at
the interface of Science, Technology, Humanities, Social Sciences
and Society. These Centres will address complex societal challenges
that require integrated perspectives from both technical and social
sciences/humanities domains.
ANRF launched Centre of Excellence for Science, Technology and
Innovation Indicators and Analytics (COE-STIIA) with the aim to
strengthen the institutional mechanism for STI indicators with an end-
to-end system. The key objective is to enhance the quality, contextual
relevance and applicability of India’s STI indicators, their analysis,
interpretations and dissemination of information and insights at
various levels of policy and program planning, as well as foster
alignment with the global indicator frameworks to position India
effectively in international indices.
ANRF launched PAIR (Partnerships for Accelerated Innovation and
Research) program which is designed to boost the research capability
of those institutions including State Universities where research is at
a nascent stage but which have the potential to perform well, in a
mentorship mode by pairing them with well-established top-tier
research institutions in a hub and spoke framework.
The ANRF Translational Research and Innovation (ATRI) initiative will
bring together all key stakeholders to channelise the expertise and
resources for unlocking the tremendous innovation potential. Under
this initiative, ANRF will establish ATRI centres to provide targeted
support for advancing potential technologies from TRL 4 to TRL 7,
thereby strengthening the innovation pipeline from lab to market.
ANRF has launched National Post-Doctoral Fellowship (NPDF) program
to support young researchers after finishing Ph.D. which is effective
to retain them in the country. ANRF launched Ramanujan Fellowship
to attract brilliant scientists and engineers of Indian origin working
abroad to return and take up scientific research positions in India.
Page 2 of 4 The ANRF has launched programs such as the National Science Chair,
JC Bose Grant and Prime Minister Professorship programs to
recognise eminent senior scientists for their outstanding
contributions at both national and international levels. These
initiatives also aim to leverage the expertise of scientists and faculty
from reputed academic institutions, research laboratories and
industry.
The details of the grants awarded in high-impact areas are given below:
Sr. Total Cost
Project Title Institute Name
No. (₹ in Crore)
International Advanced
Development and
Research Centre For
Demonstration of Materials and
1 Powder Metallurgy And 68.38
Fabrication Technologies for
New Materials (Arci),
Tropical Batteries
Hyderabad
Te-MobiX: Safe and
Indian Institute Of
Degradation-controlled
Technology (Banaras
2 Batteries with Efficient 47.77
Hindu University),
Charging for Tropical e-Mobility
Varanasi
Excellence
Grid Readiness for EV: Enablers
Indian Institute Of
3 and Technological 47.45
Technology Kanpur
developments (GREET)
Empowering Research in
Indian Institute Of
4 Indigenous Development of EV 56.56
Technology Bombay
Sub-systems (E-RIDES)
Development of high-power
Grid-friendly Conductive and Indian Institute Of
5 18.37
Static Wireless Chargers for Technology Kharagpur
Electric Vehicles
Rare Earth Magnet-Free Axial
Flux Synchronous, Radial Flux National Institute Of
6 Switched Reluctance Motor Technology Karnataka, 7.76
and their Controllers for EV Surathkal
Applications
Development of wide-bandgap Csir-Central Electronics
semiconductors based highly Engineering Research
7 18.41
efficient power electronics Institute(Csir-Ceeri),
systems for Electric Vehicle Pilani
Page 3 of 4(c) to (d): The Department has launched several mission-mode
initiatives to strengthen the innovation ecosystem and promote high-impact
research in emerging technology areas. The National Quantum Mission
(NQM), approved by the Union Cabinet with an outlay of ₹6003.65 crore for
a period of eight years, aims to support research and development in
quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing and
quantum materials.
Under the Mission, four Thematic Hubs have been established in September
2024: Quantum Computing at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc),
Bengaluru; Quantum Communication at the Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) Madras in association with C-DOT; Quantum Sensing & Metrology at IIT
Bombay; and Quantum Materials & Devices at IIT Delhi. These Hubs are
undertaking activities in technology development, human resource
development, entrepreneurship development and industry collaboration, as
well as international collaborations, to strengthen the quantum innovation
ecosystem in the country.
The National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-
ICPS) supports the development of Cyber-Physical Systems technologies
through a network of Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs) across academic
institutions, focusing on areas such as AI, robotics, autonomous systems,
smart manufacturing and advanced communication technologies.
In addition, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) has
initiated several mission-mode programmes, including Drones, Water, 6G
and Leapfrog Demonstrators, to promote solution-oriented and translational
research in priority technology areas.
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