NewzVille Desk
Minister of Science & Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh today participated as the chief guest at the 42nd Foundation Day clebration of Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) under the Ministry of Science & Technology (MoST) in New Delhi.
Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, Secretary, DSIR; Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India; S.C.L. Das, Secretary, MSME; Dr. M. Ravichandran, Secretary, MoES; Mahendra Gupta, Joint Secretary, DSIR; Dr, Vipin Shukla, Scientist G and other dignitaries and scientists were also present on the occasion.
During the event, Singh announced a major relaxation of the mandatory three-year existence condition for deep-tech startups to avail recognition under DSIRs Industrial Research and Development Promotion Program.
Accelerating India’s StartUp ecosystem, the move is expected to provide early momentum to early starters or beginners of StartUp projects as well as promising innovators and entrepreneurs.
The Minister said that while the ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund has generated unprecedented enthusiasm across the country, it is designed to support startups that have graduated to a certain level of technological maturity.
“For early-stage innovators or Startups, a wide basket of schemes already exists across departments such as DST, CSIR, TDB and others. The removal of the three-year existence requirement is a significant incentive to help deep-tech startups scale faster, even before they are fully on their own,” he added.
Dr. N. Kalaiselvi highlighted the department’s critical role in recognising in-house R&D units, SIROs and publicly funded research institutions across the country.
Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood underscored the importance of technology sovereignty in the current geopolitical context. Referring to the ₹1 lakh crore RDI Fund announced by the Prime Minister, he emphasised the need to scale breakthroughs from lab to market and strengthen private-sector R&D, particularly at TRL-4 and above.
Minister Singh also launched four significant initiatives during the Foundation Day celebrations
- The DSIR Guidelines for Recognition of In-House R&D Centres of Deep-Tech Startups, incorporating the relaxation of the three-year existence condition.
- PRISM Network Platform – TOCIC Innovator Pulse, aimed at strengthening innovation pipelines.
- Creative India 2025 under the PRISM scheme to promote innovation-led entrepreneurship.
- DSIR Disaster Management Plan, reinforcing preparedness and resilience.
Several important MoUs and agreements were exchanged in the presence of the Minister and senior dignitaries.
