Discuss how instruments like the RDI Scheme can bridge the gap between laboratory research and commercialisation in India's deep-tech sector.

Deep-tech fields like quantum, semiconductors and biotech face a "valley of death". This is the stage between a working lab prototype and a market-ready product, when the risk is too high for banks and the payback too slow for venture capital. India spends only about 0.64% of GDP on R&D. Private firms fund under 40% of it, against over 70% in advanced economies [1]. The ₹1 lakh crore RDI Scheme aims to fill this financing gap.

How RDI-type instruments bridge the gap

• Funding the right stage: It supports projects at TRL 4 and above, meaning the technology already works in the lab. It does not fund basic research, so public money goes into scaling proven ideas [2].
• Risk capital instead of grants: Support comes as low-interest, long-term loans and equity-linked instruments [2]. This brings commercial discipline and draws in private co-investment.
• Expert fund managers: Funds flow through second-level fund managers such as TDB and BIRAC. TDB has approved 22 projects with ₹2,192 crore of RDI support [2].
• Working with missions: The scheme scales what missions start. QNu Labs was supported under the National Quantum Mission (NQM). It built a 500+ km QKD network (encryption keys secured by quantum physics) over existing optical fibre [3]. NQM has since crossed 1,000 km of its 2,000 km target using QNu's technology [4].

Limitations

• Slow deployment: TDB's first call opened only in February 2026. By March 2026 ₹500 crore had been disbursed, a small part of the corpus [2].
• Picking winners: Repeated support to a few firms creates a risk of depending on a single vendor.
• Weak demand-side support: Buyers want certified products. Testing and certification sit with TEC under DoT, which is still drafting a framework for quantum-safe products [5]. Meanwhile funding comes from DST, a different department.
• Debt burden: Loan repayments can strain startups that do not yet earn revenue.

Instruments like the RDI Scheme turn India's deep-tech gap from a shortage of ideas into a problem of scaling them, by giving patient, stage-matched capital. Several steps would make them work better: releasing money against milestones, using public procurement as a guaranteed first customer, quick certification, and a joint NQM–TDB record of outcomes. Together, these can make the scheme a driver of Atmanirbhar innovation and of SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure).