Asked when the fund would be made operational before February 1, 2025, Seth said, «In the next couple of months».
Seth said R&D investment by the private sector has not picked up despite giving tax exemption for R&D and hence the government has decided to be a partner in R&D and nudge the private sector to take the risk.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Interim Budget for 2024-25 on February 1, 2024, announced setting up a mechanism for spurring private sector-driven research and innovation at commercial scale with a financing pool of Rs 1 lakh crore.