The Prime Minister of India, at the Indian Science Congress-2010 declared 2010-20 as the “Decade of Innovations” and formed the National Innovation Council. The Prime Minister and Minister of Science & Technology declared at the 99th Science Congress the bringing forth of a policy that develops the synergy between science, technology and innovation. The STI Policy 2013 is in furtherance of the declaration and aims to bring fresh perspectives to bear on innovation in the changing context.
The main aspirational elements of the STI policy are:
- Raising Gross Expenditure in Research and Development (GERD) to 2% from the present 1% of the GDP in this decade by encouraging enhanced private sector contribution.
- Increasing the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) of R&D personnel in India by at least 66% of the present strength in 5 years.
- Increasing accessibility, availability and affordability of innovations, especially for women, differently-abled and disadvantaged sections of society.
Policy Implementation
Implementation of the proposals contained in the Policy will necessitate consultations with different government departments/ministries and agencies besides consultations with overarching, science and engineering academies industry and business associations etc. Accordingly DST will establish a Policy Implementation Group to expeditiously operationalise the proposals within the next two years.
