Assess whether the Anusandhan National Research Foundation and the RDI Scheme can address the structural reasons behind India's low GERD.

India's Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) has stayed at about 0.6–0.7% of GDP for years, even as rupee spending grew [4]. The ANRF (Act, 2023) and the ₹1 lakh crore RDI Scheme (2025) deal with some of the structural causes, but only partly.

Structural reasons for low GERD

• Weak business funding: companies fund well under half of GERD [5].
• PSU under-investment: public-sector R&D units spent 0.30% of turnover on R&D, against 1.46% for private units (2020–21) [5].
• Concentrated access: state universities and smaller institutions have long had little access to competitive grants [1].
• Risk aversion: early-stage research rarely finds patient capital.

How the two instruments help

• Leverage: ANRF targets ₹50,000 crore (2023–28), of which about ₹36,000 crore (~80%) is expected from industry and philanthropists [1].
• Wider access: ANRF sets aside separate funds and a separate competition for state universities [1]. Its PAIR and Inclusive Research Grant programmes link strong institutions with emerging ones [6].
• Private capital: RDI offers long-tenor, low- or nil-interest financing, growth and risk capital for sunrise and strategic sectors, and a Deep-Tech Fund of Funds [2].
• Coordination: ANRF's Governing Board, chaired by the Prime Minister, gives the RDI Scheme its strategic direction [2].

Where they fall short

• Borrowed hope: ANRF expects firms, which fund under half of GERD today, to supply about 80% of its money [1][5]. If they give less, the fund shrinks.
• Loans, not grants: RDI money must be repaid. It covers up to 50% of project costs at advanced Technology Readiness Levels [3], so it suits near-market projects more than early discovery.
• PSUs untouched: neither instrument sets R&D obligations for state-owned firms, which spend the least [5].
• Misleading metric: rupee growth can hide a flat GDP share [4].

Way forward

• Administrative ministries should set R&D spending norms for CPSEs.
• DST should publish how RDI money is split between loans and risk capital, by sector [3].
• ANRF could require PAIR partners to share lab access as a condition of funding.
• GERD as a share of GDP should be the headline target.

Overall, ANRF and the RDI Scheme tackle access and private-capital gaps but leave PSU under-spending and early-stage risk largely unaddressed. With public-sector spending norms, more risk capital and transparent tracking, they can move India towards SDG 9.5 (more research and more R&D spending). On their own, they are a necessary but partial fix.