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Govt to operationalise Rs 1-trillion innovation fund in next 3 months

The Rs 1-trillion Research Development and Innovation Fund (ANRM), announced in the July Budget for FY25—with Rs 20,000 crore already allocated—will be operationalised in the next two to three months, a top official said. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had, on February 1, allocated Rs 20,000 crore to the Department of Science and Technology (DST) as a corpus to promote private sector–driven innovation. The Rs 1-trillion fund was first announced in the July 2023 Budget. While the ANRM fund primarily supports academic research, universities, and public research labs, the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) fund under it will be dedicated exclusively to private sector R&D. The DST plans to set up a Deep Tech Fund under this scheme, aimed at building strategic autonomy in critical sectors such as clean energy, electric vehicles (EVs), and advanced materials. 'This fund is not just for start-ups—it is also for corporates and industries, provided they undertake cutting-edge R&D projects. Once operational, the industry is expected to deliver innovative products and help India achieve strategic autonomy in the mobility transition,' said Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, DST, at the Battery Summit organised by World Resources Institute (WRI) India on Wednesday. DST's budget has grown from ₹2,777 crore in 2014 to ₹28,509 crore in FY26, and gross expenditure on R&D has risen from ₹60,196 crore to ₹1,27,380 crore over the same period. Investment in battery R&D is crucial, as it drives innovation in energy storage, improving battery performance, safety, and cost-efficiency. Research is essential for meeting rising energy demands, transitioning to sustainable transportation, and achieving energy independence. India currently lacks significant reserves of key battery materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, making the country reliant on imports and exposing it to price volatility and geopolitical risks. Meanwhile, the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), a government body, will set up an advanced battery lab in the next few months as part of its expansion plan, an ARAI official said. However, he expressed scepticism about its capacity to meet India's full testing needs. ARAI is reportedly planning to invest Rs 100 crore to develop advanced testing labs and infrastructure across the country in 2025. Several of its facilities at the new Mobility Research Centre in Takwe are in the final stages of completion and are expected to be operational this year. ARAI established its first Centre of Excellence for Green Mobility in Chakan, Pune, in 2020. At the Battery Summit, WRI India released a report titled Development of Data Frameworks for Battery Circularity in India, which stressed the urgent need for a unified data framework to improve transparency and collaboration across the battery ecosystem. A battery data framework facilitates the collection and assessment of key data across the battery life cycle using its digital record. This enables seamless, secure, and transparent data exchange among multiple stakeholders in the EV ecosystem. Such a framework benefits supply-chain stakeholders by providing access to data on due diligence, carbon footprint, and material composition. This enables battery manufacturers and automotive OEMs to compare suppliers, enhance sourcing decisions, and mitigate risks associated with raw material sourcing, processing, and trading. Similarly, access to reliable and comparable data on a battery's carbon footprint can help consumers make informed purchase decisions. Further, information on battery composition and state of health (SoH) is particularly valuable in ensuring efficient battery recycling and reuse.