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In a significant milestone towards operationalisation of the transformative Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund, launched by the Government to encourage the private sector to scale up research, development, and innovation (RDI) in sunrise domains, the Executive Council of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) on Saturday approved the establishment of a special purpose fund (SPF) for the RDI scheme and also approved the Implementation Guidelines and governance framework.
According to an official release from the Ministry of Science and Technology, ANRF also adopted the Special Financial Rules and Management Team Position and Compensation, as approved by the Ministry of Finance. The approval marks a significant step forward towards the launch of this transformative initiative in the coming months. The implementation guidelines and Special Financial Rules were prepared by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) through extensive consultation with various stakeholders and with the concurrence of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and the Department of Expenditure (DoE). These implementation guidelines, and specially the special financial rules, will lay the foundation for efficient governance and seamless execution of the scheme, setting the momentum for greater private sector participation, leading to long-term innovation-driven growth. On July 1, the Union Cabinet had approved a historic and bold initiative to set up a Rs 1 Lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund aimed at spurring a private sector-driven R&D ecosystem. The Department of Science & Technology (DST) is the nodal ministry of the scheme. The RDI scheme will operate through a two-tiered funding structure. At the first level, a Special Purpose Fund (SPF) will be established within the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), which will serve as the custodian of the Rs 1 lakh crore corpus. The fund will not directly invest in industries and startups but will channel capital to second-level fund managers, who can be Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), Development Finance Institutions (DFI), Non-banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), among others. Recommendations for support will be made by second-level fund managers through investment committees comprising experts from financial, business, and technical domains operating at arm's length from the government. (ANI)
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