ESTIC 2026: PM Modi Opens Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave

What happened

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 27 October 2026. The conclave runs from 27 to 29 October 2026. This is the second edition; the first, ESTIC 2025, was held at the same venue from 3 to 5 November 2025.

In his address, the PM recalled last year's ₹1 lakh crore commitment for research, development and innovation and said that in the past year ₹12,000 crore of government money for market-ready laboratory technologies had been matched by ₹12,000 crore from private investors, giving ₹24,000 crore in new commitments. He asked every participant to set a concrete three-year target, such as a prototype, pilot or product.

Background

• ESTIC is meant to bring India's science and technology departments onto one platform. At the curtain raiser, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said it was conceived to replace fragmented events held through the year.
• Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) was created under the ANRF Act, 2023; the Act's provisions came into force on 5 February 2024. It gives strategic direction to research across natural sciences, engineering, health, agriculture and allied fields.
• Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme: approved by the Union Cabinet on 1 July 2025 with a corpus of ₹1 lakh crore over six years, and launched by the PM at ESTIC 2025. Its aim is to draw the private sector into R&D in sunrise and strategic sectors.

Key details

The 12 thematic areas: advanced manufacturing; energy technologies; synthetic biology; ocean and maritime technologies; quantum communication; semiconductors; agri-tech; generative and autonomous AI; robotics; advanced healthcare; immersive technologies; space science.

New this year: a Global Connect Networking Event for Indian and foreign academia, research institutions and industry (over 300 invited participants), and an exhibition with about 150 deep-tech startup stalls.

How the RDI Scheme works

1. Tier 1: a Special Purpose Fund inside ANRF holds the money and lends it, mainly as long-term concessional loans, to second-level fund managers.
2. Tier 2: second-level fund managers finance R&D projects, mostly through long-term loans, and may take equity, especially in startups.
3. Governance: the ANRF Governing Board is chaired by the PM; an Empowered Group of Secretaries led by the Cabinet Secretary approves sectors, fund managers and changes. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is the nodal department.
4. Progress: on 12 October 2026 the RDI Fund announced its first cohort of 19 second-level fund managers (14 Alternative Investment Funds and 5 Focused Research Organisations) with a total RDIF commitment of ₹7,131 crore, for enterprises working at Technology Readiness Level 4 and above.

Highlights the PM listed

• The indigenous 500-MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor achieved first criticality a few months ago.
• An Indian startup placed a satellite in orbit on its first attempt using a Made-in-India rocket; India has mastered satellite docking.
• Annual patent filings rose from under 50,000 a decade ago to nearly 1.5 lakh last year (as stated by the PM).
• He called for national missions in semiconductors, quantum technologies, biotechnology, advanced materials, robotics, space, clean energy and next-generation communications.

Why it matters

• Lab to market: the conclave and the RDI Fund both target the gap between research and usable products, through B2B/B2G meetings, startup stalls and long-term risk capital.
• Private R&D: India's Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) was ₹2,44,767.81 crore in 2023-24, or 0.84% of GDP, with the private sector accounting for 51.8%, according to DST's R&D Statistics 2025-26 cited in Parliament. Concessional capital for high-risk projects is meant to raise the private share further.
• Whole-of-government approach: Principal Scientific Adviser Prof. Ajay K. Sood said the conclave embodies this approach; he noted that the inaugural 2025 edition brought together 13 ministries and more than 5,000 delegates, and CSIR said 13 ministries have joined hands for the 2026 edition.
• Responsible technology: the PM stressed safety and security in AI, synthetic biology and autonomous systems, and said the responsibility for checking the accuracy of an AI-generated answer must lie with the scientist.

Issues and criticism

• Low overall spending: at 0.84% of GDP (2023-24), India's R&D spending remains under 1% of GDP, so scale is still a constraint.
• Early-stage deployment: the RDI Scheme has a ₹1 lakh crore corpus, while the first cohort of fund managers, approved in October 2026, carries an RDIF commitment of ₹7,131 crore; the RDIF says more cohorts will be onboarded. Money reaching actual projects is still at an early stage.
• Risk of an annual show: Dr Jitendra Singh himself asked for short- and long-term milestones so that the conclave "does not become an isolated annual event". The PM likewise said ESTIC should yield results, not just discussion.
• Financing gap: the RDI Fund's own release notes that a lack of long-term capital for high-risk R&D has held back private investment in emerging and strategic technologies.

Way forward

• Track the three-year targets the PM asked participants to set, and publish outcomes at the next edition.
• Speed up onboarding of more fund-manager cohorts so RDI money reaches deep-tech firms.
• Use ANRF to widen research capacity in universities, not only in national laboratories.
• Build safety and verification norms for AI, synthetic biology and autonomous systems alongside the national missions.

Revise this and other recent stories with our weekly current affairs quiz, and see the UPSC Prelims page for more practice.

Prelims pointers

• ESTIC 2026: 27–29 October 2026, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi; inaugurated by PM Modi.
• Organised by CSIR under the guidance of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser; nodal lab CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram.
• Theme: "Creative Minds, Catalyzing Science, Empowering Technologies"; 12 thematic areas.
• ESTIC 2025 (first edition): 3–5 November 2025, where the ₹1 lakh crore RDI Scheme was launched.
• RDI Scheme: Cabinet approval 1 July 2025; Special Purpose Fund within ANRF; DST is nodal department.
• ANRF Act, 2023 came into force on 5 February 2024; ANRF Governing Board is chaired by the PM.
• India's GERD in 2023-24: 0.84% of GDP; private sector share 51.8%.

One-liners for SSC, Banking and Railways

• ESTIC 2026 was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on 27 October 2026.
• Venue of ESTIC 2026: Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
• The RDI Scheme has a corpus of ₹1 lakh crore.
• The first RDI Fund cohort has 19 second-level fund managers.
• ANRF stands for Anusandhan National Research Foundation.
• Nobel laureate Kostya Novoselov was among the faculty named for ESTIC 2026.

Mains practice question

"India's research ecosystem needs patient private capital more than new institutions." Examine this statement in the light of the Research, Development and Innovation Scheme and the Anusandhan National Research Foundation. (250 words, GS III)

Points to cover:

1. GERD at 0.84% of GDP and the private sector share; why risk capital is scarce for high-TRL projects.
2. RDI Scheme design: two tiers, concessional loans and equity, ANRF governance, first cohort of 19 fund managers.
3. Role of institutions: ANRF for university research, ESTIC as a single platform linking ministries, industry and startups.
4. Way forward: measurable targets, faster deployment, safety norms for AI and synthetic biology.