NITI Aayog organized a two-day National Workshop “University-lndustry-Government Collaboration for Technological Advancement of the States” during 4th - 5th December, 2025 at BRIC- NABI, Mohali. The workshop brought together a distinguished gathering of leading academic institutions, industry and industry associations, and government stakeholders to deliberate on how the three actors can collectively work to accelerate India’s research, innovation, and technology development landscape.

Prof. Ashwani Pareek, Executive Director, BRIC-National Agri-Food and Biomanufacturing Institute (NABI), highlighted the institution’s commitment to innovation and the national bio-economy, showcasing its research progress and emphasizing the need to strengthen UIG collaborations through clear policy outcomes, trust-based networks, and a resilient ecosystem for achieving Viksit Bharat.

Prof. Vivek Kumar Singh, Programme DIrector, NITI Aayog, framed the theme of the workshop, by briefing on the need for a strong University–Industry collaboration to stimulate and foster development, noting that such progress would also require government intervention. Prof. Vivek also outlined NITI Aayog’s key initiatives to strengthen India’s innovation ecosystem, including efforts to improve the Ease of Doing Research, enhance State-level R&D capacity, and develop a unified project lifecycle architecture. He highlighted the ROPE framework of removing obstacles and promoting enablers as a guiding approach for strengthening collaborations.

Across technical sessions, participants engaged in substantive deliberations on Regulatory, Policy & Structural Mechanisms- Enablers for Enhanced Mobility and Exchange, Collaborative R&D Ecosystems: From Co-Funding to Co-Creation, Technology Translation and Commercialization Pathways, Accelerating R&D Funding and Promoting R&D Activities in Private Sector, Developing Guidelines & Templates to Enhance and Monitor UIG Collaboration. Contributions came from leading representatives across universities, industry partners, and government agencies, reflecting a strong multi-stakeholder commitment to advancing the UIG agenda.

Stakeholders across universities, industry, and government provided focused inputs emphasising the need to strengthen research culture, enhance researcher mobility, and bridge TRL gaps through shared facilities and targeted support. They discussed the geographical, sectoral, interdisciplinary, along with the need for national-level policies that enable easier transitions of researchers across domains through sabbaticals and faculty-led startup development. The discussions further called for well-defined incentives to strengthen industry–academia collaboration and the creation of a national information platform to link key components of the innovation ecosystem. Stakeholders also noted India’s limited representation in international standards-setting bodies, which necessitates significant efforts by domestic manufacturers to align with global standards.

The workshop concluded by underscoring that India’s progress toward Viksit Bharat will rely on a stronger, trust-driven UIG ecosystem where translational research is prioritized, enabling faster conversion of ideas into impactful innovations for national growth.

 

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