By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The central government has set up a new research institute to provide strategic direction for research, innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of natural sciences.
The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRRF) came into force on February 4 last year through the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act, 2023 (25 of 2023). The ANRF aims to seed, grow and promote research and development (R&D) and foster a culture of research and innovation throughout India’s universities, colleges, research institutions, and R&D laboratories.
Giving this information a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences said the government is actively encouraging private sector participation in research, development, and innovation through the ANRF.
ANRF’s strategic vision includes fostering strong industry–academia collaboration, promoting translational research. Its programmes are designed to support mission-driven, high-impact research with active participation from the private sector. In this direction, ANRF has identified Electric Vehicle (EV) Mobility as a key area under its MAHA (Mission for Advancement in High-impact Areas) initiative.
To ensure effective industry engagement, the MAHA-EV Mission mandates the participation of relevant industries, /PSUs/start-ups, and includes a provision requiring 10% of the project cost to be contributed by Industry partners.
The government has approved the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme with a corpus of Rs. One lakh Crore. RDI Scheme aims to provide long-term financing at low or nil interest rates to spur private sector investment in RDI. The scheme has been designed to overcome the constraints and challenges in funding of private sector and seeks to provide growth & risk capital to sunrise and strategic sectors to facilitate innovation, promote adoption of technology and enhance competitiveness.
Under the Advanced Research Grant (ARG) programme, the Principal Investigators (PIs) are free to submit proposals for the development of AI tools in the fields of physics, chemistry, and biology. Such proposals, if submitted, may be reviewed and considered by ANRF as part of the standard evaluation process.