India’s ANRF set to transform research landscape with industry-led missions and AI

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh has highlighted the importance of the newly formed ‘Anusandhan’ National Research Foundation (ANRF), calling it a key body for all science-related ministries and departments.

Speaking at a high-level meeting at the National Science Centre, he stressed that ANRF aims to boost large-scale partnerships, especially with private sector involvement.

The minister shared a broader vision for aligning research efforts across departments with national goals, encouraging private participation, and ensuring innovations are ready for the market.

At the heart of this initiative is the goal of creating a unified research approach—one that avoids duplication, breaks down departmental silos, and delivers real-world impact.

“All the science ministries must work with the intent to deliver market-relevant, public-good products,” he emphasized, adding that ANRF will not only act as a coordinating body but also serve as a catalyst to bring in private sector investment and innovation.

The CEO of ANRF, Dr Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, presented an innovative strategy that calls for deep private sector integration, AI-led scientific acceleration, and catalytic finance methods.

The agency plans to create cross-ministerial missions centered on economic growth and societal impact, modeling its operations on internationally successful organizations such as the NSF and DARPA.

Notably, ANRF will begin a program called "Small Business Deep Tech Innovation" that will be modeled after international best practices and will assist startups and MSMEs in scaling technology for practical use.

ANRF will also launch a "Cloud of Research and Innovation Infrastructure" to give deep-tech businesses and institutions nationwide access to underutilized equipment in an effort to maximize the nation's research capacity.

Another important feature is the foundation's "AI-for-Science" effort, which aims to significantly reduce the time between theory and practice in fundamental scientific fields by employing AI to model scientific equations in physics, chemistry, and biology.

Dr Singh emphasized the value of programs that have obvious public benefits, pointing to space-based applications, the Department of Atomic Energy's Bharat Small Modular Reactors, and CSIR's HANSA-NG aircraft as examples to follow.

With 110 orders already placed and production scheduled in partnership with Pioneer Clean Arms Pvt Ltd., the HANSA-NG, a two-seater training aircraft created domestically by CSIR-NAL, is already demonstrating significant market interest.

In addition to pointing out that the project might lessen India's reliance on costly international pilot training, Dr Singh recommended enlisting the help of private airlines and producers of aerospace components to expand production outside of Bengaluru.

Similarly, the Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR), a 200 MW pressurized water reactor designed for industrial uses and grid-independent power generation, is being developed by the Department of Atomic Energy.

The innovation that the minister wants the ANRF to foster and expand is exemplified by these efforts.