Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
MP Satnam Sandhu highlights steps taken by Govt to promote research, improve global rankings of India HEIs
Babushahi Bureau
New Delhi, December 16, 2024:Aligned to the principles of NEP 2020, to promote research in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in India, the Union Government has earmarked Rs 50,000 Crores under Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) for 5 years (ANRF introduced in 2023).
This information was shared by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Education in response to a question asked by Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu during the ongoing winter session of Parliament regarding the budget allocations made by the union government for research and innovation in higher educational institutions and steps taken by the government in improving the rankings of Indian HEIs in global rankings.
Stating further, the MOS for Education said that to supplement the ANRF initiative, Union government has allocated a budget of Rs 6,000 crore for 3 years (2025 to 2027) under One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) scheme that envisages to expand access to scholarly journals to a vast diaspora of students, faculty, researchers and scientists.
The government, in order to conduct interdisciplinary research, and develop cutting-edge applications has approved 3 Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Artificial intelligence (Al), one each in the areas of health, sustainable cities and agriculture with a total budget of Rs 990 Crores for a period of 5 years between 2023-24 to 2027-28.
In a written reply, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Dr Sukanta Majumdar said, “Under the Umbrella Head ‘Research & Innovation’ of various central government schemes by Ministry of Education, a total of budget of Rs 690.49 Crores has been allocated for 3 years from 2022-23 to 2024-25 for research projects applied through Higher Education Institutions. Moreover, regulatory bodies such as University Grant Commission and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Autonomous Bodies under Department of Higher Education also provide financial supports for several projects. In 2024, India has secured 39th position among 133 global economies in the Global Innovation Index. In a span of nearly a decade, India has made tremendous strides in the GII rankings, rising from the 81st position in 2015 to 39th in 2024.”
“To ensure adequate awareness amongst HEIs about the Global Ranking parameters and its framework, National Board of Accreditation (NBA) conducts regular seminars, workshops and disseminates relevant information to the stakeholders. NEP 2020 recognises research as a key parameter for quality education and promotes HEIs to focus on research and innovation by setting up start-up incubation centres, technology development centres, centres in frontier areas of research; greater industry-academic linkages and interdisciplinary research including humanities and social sciences research. Union government also provides financial support to state governments under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme under three components; Enhancing Quality and Excellence in select State Universities, Infrastructure Grants to Universities and Multi-Disciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERU) for improvement in Higher Education,” added Majumdar.
The MoS added, “Kalam Program for IP literacy and Awareness (KAPILA) to support HEIs in IP filing and also provide financial support to the applicant filing the patent through their education institute.
Moreover, Start-Ups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) scheme facilitates protection of patents, trademark and designs by interested Startups and innovators, and educational institutes using the services of the Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) established by union government.”
Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu said, “Till 2015, a handful of 11 Indian universities featured in QS World University Rankings but marking a record 318 percent increase in a short span of last 10 years, 46 institutions were included in 2025 edition of the coveted QS Rankings, making India the best amongst G-20 nations in terms of HEIs representation in global rankings. Qualitative changes in India’s higher education sector over the past decade, to boost research, learning and innovation, have helped the nation outperform China as most represented higher education system in Asia with as many as 162 Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) ranked in the QS Asia University Rankings 2025.”
“With over 1.3 million academic research publications in a short span of just 5 years, India now ranks 4th globally. India’s research output has increased by a significant 54 percent between 2017 to 2022, this is more than double the global average of 22 percent and fare greater than that of its academically established Western counterparts, making it one of the fastest-growing research centers in the world. Moreover, the number of patents filed by India have doubled in the past 10 years and touched 83,000 in 2023 compared to only 42,700 patents filed till 2014. The union government has reduced patent filing and processing fees charged on educational institutions by 80 per cent at par with similar concession provided to startups under the Startup India initiative,” added Sandhu.