Technology Development Board (TDB) Secretary Rajesh Kumar Pathak on Tuesday, 7 July said the central government is targeting a near-tripling of research and development spending — from the current 0.65 per cent of GDP to approximately 2 per cent of GDP — and urged private firms to actively tap the ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund (RDIF), which can underwrite up to 50 per cent of eligible project costs. Pathak made the remarks while addressing an industry outreach programme organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi.

What the RDIF Offers Private Industry

Under the RDIF framework, private companies can receive funding covering half their total R&D expenditure, with no collateral requirement. Loans are structured over a tenure of 10 to 15 years, specifically designed to absorb the front-loaded risk that typically deters corporate investment in early-stage innovation. Crucially, the facility can also be used to acquire technology from abroad, broadening its utility for firms looking to license or co-develop cutting-edge capabilities.

Pathak noted that the ₹1 lakh crore corpus is intended as a revolving base. 'The government has allocated ₹1 lakh crore fund, but it can become much more by reinvesting the fund in research and development,' he said, signalling that returns from funded projects would be recycled back into the pool.

Priority Sectors and Deep Technology Focus

The RDIF is not designed for incremental or routine R&D. Officials have drawn a clear line, restricting support to critical and frontier research across a defined set of sunrise sectors. These include energy security, clean energy transition, and climate action. On the deep technology side, the fund covers quantum computing, robotics, and space technologies. Artificial intelligence applications in agriculture, health, and education are also eligible, as are biotechnology, biomanufacturing, synthetic biology, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. The digital economy — including digital agriculture — rounds out the priority list.

Industry's Reading of the Signal

Puneet Dalmia, Vice President of FICCI, Chair of its R&D and Innovation Committee, and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dalmia Bharat Group, welcomed the initiative as a strategic inflection point. 'RDIF is a clear signal that India is no longer just a consumer of technology, but it is ready to become a creator of technology,' Dalmia said. He added that sectors such as AI, semiconductors, quantum technologies, biotechnology, green hydrogen, defence, and deep tech 'are not just sectors of the future — they are the foundation of India's future competitiveness.'

Why the Gap Between Public and Private R&D Matters

India's overall R&D spending as a share of GDP has long lagged peer economies. China allocates roughly 2.4 per cent of GDP to R&D, while South Korea exceeds 4 per cent, according to global benchmarks. India's private sector contribution remains particularly thin — the bulk of domestic R&D has historically been driven by public institutions and defence labs. The RDIF is the government's most direct attempt yet to shift that balance, making private firms the primary engine of innovation investment. This comes amid a broader push to position India as a technology-producing nation ahead of the next decade of global supply-chain restructuring.

What Comes Next

The TDB, which administers the RDIF, is expected to roll out sector-specific application windows and evaluation criteria in the coming months. Industry bodies including FICCI have been engaged as outreach partners to ensure smaller firms and startups — not just large conglomerates — can navigate the fund's access mechanisms. Whether uptake matches ambition will depend on how quickly bureaucratic processes are streamlined for genuinely high-risk, long-horizon projects.