New Delhi, May 29 -- The Rs 1-trillion Research Development and Innovation (RDI) fund, announced in the July 2024 Union Budget, will become operational within the next two to three months, a senior government official confirmed.

Of this, Rs 20,000 crore has already been allocated by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in February.

Unlike the Anusandhan National Research Foundation, which supports academic research, the RDI fund will focus exclusively on private sector R&D.

The DST is preparing to launch Deep Tech Fund 1.0 under this initiative, targeting strategic sectors such as clean energy, electric vehicles (EVs), and advanced materials.

"This fund is for both start-ups and corpora...