Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 75th year is marked by his emphasis on blending India’s civilizational heritage with technological innovation. His long-term ambition is to create a Viksit Bharat by 2047, where cultural pride coexists with leadership in frontier technologies and R&D-driven industrial growth. This vision aims to position India as both a global knowledge economy and a manufacturing powerhouse in the high-tech age.

Research, Development, And Innovation Scheme

In July 2025, the government launched the ₹1 lakh crore RDI Scheme, signalling the largest ever intervention for industry-led research. The scheme prioritises late-stage, application-ready projects, ensuring quicker translation from laboratory to industry. A Deep-Tech Fund of Funds has been integrated, focusing on transformative technologies like semiconductors, advanced robotics, defence innovation, and green hydrogen. It is designed to place private enterprise at the centre of India’s high-tech growth trajectory.

Vigyan Dhara: Streamlined R&D Governance

To eliminate fragmentation, Modi unified three major science funding schemes into a single umbrella initiative named Vigyan Dhara. With an outlay of ₹10,579.84 crore, the programme emphasises institutional strengthening, translational research, and talent development. Its budget climbed sharply from ₹330.75 crore in FY 2024–25 to ₹1,425 crore in 2025–26, reaching nearly 58,000 direct beneficiaries in less than two years.

Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF)

The ANRF, operationalised in mid-2024, is designed to fund and coordinate nationwide research across diverse institutions. India has pledged ₹50,000 crore till 2028 to bridge the gap between elite universities and state-run colleges that lack infrastructure. The foundation has already operationalised seven PAIR hub networks alongside 45 spoke institutions, mirroring international collaborative research ecosystems like those in the US and South Korea.

IndiaAI And Compute Democratisation

Under Modi’s leadership, India is revolutionising AI access by building one of the most affordable GPU infrastructure pools in the world. With over 34,000 GPUs aggregated under the IndiaAI Compute portal, access is now available at ₹67 per hour, nearly half of average global rates. This is enabling universities, start-ups, and independent researchers to build foundational models. The plan also expands AI education with regional Data Labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, ensuring inclusive access to frontier technologies.

National Quantum Mission

Recognising quantum as a frontier technology, the NQM targets development of 50–1000 qubit intermediate-scale quantum computers within eight years. The mission also focuses on quantum key distribution and secure communication infrastructure, thereby enabling advances in cybersecurity and future computing. International partnerships and domestic start-up ecosystems are being mobilised to accelerate leadership in this disruptive field.

National Supercomputing Mission

India’s computing revolution gained traction with the deployment of 34 PARAM-class supercomputers amounting to a combined capacity of 35 Petaflops. Researchers in smaller institutions have completed over 1 crore jobs using these facilities. Modi has personally overseen milestones, from the 2019 launch of Param Shivay at IIT BHU to the recent rollout of three PARAM Rudra systems in 2024. The NSM thus creates India’s foundation for computational sovereignty across science, defence, and industry.

Green Hydrogen Push

The National Green Hydrogen Mission is building India into a clean energy hub, with R&D supported under the SHIP partnership mechanism. A ₹400 crore fund has been earmarked exclusively for hydrogen-related innovations. This places India among the future leaders in sustainable fuels, with major industry-government collaborations driving production scale-up and export potential.

Expanding Research Ecosystem
India’s gross expenditure on R&D has doubled to ₹1.25 lakh crore over a decade, signalling a reoriented knowledge economy. Nearly 6,000 higher educational institutions now have R&D cells, while a “One Nation, One Subscription” program democratises research paper access for 1.8 crore students. Patent filings have doubled to over 80,000 annually, and research parks have expanded from 3 a decade ago to nearly 20 envisioned today, reshaping India’s innovation landscape.

Frontier Science Achievements

Symbolic breakthroughs underline Modi’s push for indigenous science. These include India’s first domestically built MRI machine, the “brain-on-a-chip” nano-computing breakthrough, and IISc Bangalore’s pioneering nanotechnology for light control. The world’s longest hyperloop test track at IIT Madras, capable of 1,000kmph trials, shows India’s bold experimental pursuits. Indian universities too are rising in rankings, with 54 institutions featured in QS 2026 compared to just 11 in 2014.

Digital Creativity And AVGC-XR

India’s cultural and creative economy is receiving institutional support through the new National Centre of Excellence for AVGC-XR in Mumbai. With formal partnerships with global studios, India is emerging as a world-class post-production hub. The country’s 442 million gamers have made it the world’s second-largest gaming market, projected to generate $4.5 billion in revenues by 2025 and create 250,000 jobs — making gaming a serious contributor to India’s economy and cultural diplomacy.

Defence, Sovereignty, And The Military-Industrial Complex

Defence remains central to Modi’s innovation philosophy. The budget for 2025–26 rose to ₹6.81 lakh crore, more than doubling since 2014. Under this framework, India has operationalised key systems like the S-400, MR-SAM, Akash, LCH Prachand, ATAGS, and indigenous radars. At the same time, a vibrant private sector is being cultivated, with start-ups playing critical roles in Operation Sindoor through ISR and precision missions. The NaMo Drone Didi program further extends defence innovation to agriculture, empowering rural women as drone operators.

Building A Fourth Industrial Revolution Hub

PM Modi’s combined push across AI, quantum, clean energy, digital creativity, and defence underscores his broader aspiration to position India as a global leader in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. By opening defence, drones, and computing infrastructure to private players and start-ups, India is cultivating a self-reliant, disruptive innovation ecosystem. These landmark reforms are designed not only for national sovereignty, but also to elevate India into the ranks of global high-technology leaders by 2047.

IDN (With Inputs From Hindustan Times)