The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on 6 May 2026 at Kartavya Bhavan, New Delhi. The partnership aims to foster a robust ecosystem for R&D by bridging the gap between industry, academia, and research institutions; promote research, its translation, and commercialization; foster strategic partnerships, and support policy dialogue.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Puneet Dalmia, Vice President, FICCI & Managing Director, Dalmia Bharat Group emphasised on how this MoU will act as a mindset shift with a focus on transiting from academia to applications, silos to systems and translational to transformational; thereby, leapfrogging across sectors. India should be a co-creator of solutions globally, with the solutions being outcome driven and having a measurable impact.

In her remarks, Dr (Mrs.) Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of PSA spoke about the consistent efforts of the government and the Office of PSA towards having a sustained R&D ecosystem through its schemes such as Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) Fund, and the recently announced Fund of Funds. She emphasised the need to bring industries together and involve MSMEs, leading to improved contribution of industries in R&D. These efforts will eventually reflect in the Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD).

This was followed by remarks from Mr Shaurya Doval, Director, Sangam Foundation who highlighted the need for international participation in R&D and strengthening scalability and resilience of indigenous products and services such as in energy dependency.

In his remarks, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India highlighted the need for technology diffusion to generate new ideas, products, or processes across sectors. There is also a need to scale high tech priority areas such as solar energy and green batteries. As the government enabled RDI fund supports industries and startups, therefore, this is a unique opportunity for industries to carry out deep tech R&D. This MoU between O/o PSA and FICCI will bring structured engagement, enabling industry–academia linkages and connecting all stakeholders across India’s R&D ecosystem to deliver tangible results.

Mr Anant Swarup, Secretary General, FICCI, in his closing remarks, spoke on navigating through challenges of commercialization and scalability and focusing on agility of organisations. Mr. Alok Sriram, Senior Managing Director, DCM Shriram international limited and Mr. Agam Khare, Founder & CEO, Absolute highlighted the commitment of industrial R&D in diverse sectors including energy solutions, pharma sector and agricultural biotechnology.

This was followed by the signing and exchange of MoU which indicated a collaboration that will aim to foster an enabling ecosystem for Research and Development. It was signed by Dr Preeti Banzal, Scientist-G/Adviser on behalf of Office of PSA and Shri Sumeet Gupta, Deputy Secretary General on behalf of FICCI.

The ceremony was also joined by Mr. Lovish Ahuja, Head -Sustainability, Dalmia Bharat Group; Dr Barada Prasad, Director & Head / R&D and Innovation / Startup; Mr. Amit Mishra, Deputy Director; Ms. Divya Chhabra, Senior Assistant Director from FICCI; and Dr Divya Vashisth, OSD, OPSA.

****

MJPS/ST

(Release ID: 2258487) Visitor Counter : 169