India, July 2 -- The Union Cabinet on Tuesday cleared a scheme with a corpus of Rs.1 lakh crore to channel funding to the private sector for accelerating research, development, and innovation in sunrise and strategic sectors in the country.

The Research Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme, shaped through wide consultations with industry experts, will provide long-term financing or refinancing at low or interest-free rates . It will back projects that have moved beyond early-stage research and reached the prototype stage,said union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at a press briefing on the cabinet's decisions.

"When a company moves beyond the prototype stage, it often faces the 'valley of death,' a critical phase where many innovations fai...