New Delhi, October 12
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said on Saturday that the government is creating an "enabling innovation ecosystem" with recent reforms like design-linked incentives for semi-conductors in the country.
Speaking at the United States-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF) award function in the national capital, Singh mentioned reforms undertaken by the government such as design-linked incentives for semiconductors, PLI schemes for automobiles, drone policy and removing barriers through initiatives like faceless assessment.
Mentioning the growth of the startup ecosystem which is gathering speed, scale, and momentum, the Union Minister said, "Advancing the Research and Innovation Value chain and fostering the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in young minds has witnessed phenomenal growth in India."
The number of startups in the country has crossed over 1,40,000 so far, from only 350 startups in 2014. India is also home to over 110 Unicorns where 23 of them emerged only last year, which is a sign of India's rapid upward ride on the STI (Science, Technology & Innovation) ladder, he stated.
While presenting the Indo-US Endowment awards to 17 winning teams, he said, "I am happy to say that as a part of the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), new implementing agreements have been executed between the science agencies to expand international collaboration in a range of areas to build a robust innovation ecosystem. The DST - National Science Foundation joint call in the areas of (i) Computer and Information Science and Engineering, (ii) Cyber-Physical Systems, and (iii) Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace has resulted in the award of 11 high pitch proposals."
India and the US are at the pivotal point with the technologies shaping up for the future like Artificial Intelligence, Advanced manufacturing, blockchain, green energy, and quantum computing, getting ready to make one of the biggest technology transformations of the century, a release of the Ministry of Science and Technology stated.
India and the US established USISTEF in 2009 to support joint US-India entrepreneurial initiatives on co-developing products or technologies that are beyond the ideation stage. Over the years, the program has had a significant impact, both in terms of the development of new products and technologies and in seeding new sustainable collaborations between US and Indian inventors, the release mentioned.
The Department of Science and Technology and the USA are working together to elevate and expand the Indo-US strategic technology partnership and to connect scientists from both countries to collaborate on emerging technologies such as AI and smart connected cities, it added.