India cannot afford to replicate the 75-year evolutionary timelines of Western institutions like the US National Science Foundation or DARPA, according to Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, Chief Executive Officer of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation.

Speaking at TechSparks 2026, YourStory’s annual summit, Kalyanaraman made it clear that under an impatient Prime Minister, the organisation must bypass traditional bureaucratic friction and drive scientific discovery into the real economy at unprecedented speed.

Describing the foundation as an institutional startup, Kalyanaraman outlined how the nation is altering its approach to scientific research and technology commercialisation. Formalised by parliament in 2023 following recommendations in the National Education Policy 2020, the foundation operates as an autonomous statutory body presided over by the Prime Minister of India.

The organisation was established to transform the country into a global innovation powerhouse by linking higher education, private industry, venture capital, and global philanthropy, ensuring rapid funding flows from foundational research to market implementation.

At the centre of this financial transformation is the Research, Development, and Innovation fund, a government-backed pool of Rs 1 lakh crore. Designed as a patient capital instrument, the fund provides long-term financial support tailored to research-intensive and deep-tech enterprises that require extended gestation periods without demanding immediate short-term returns.

Instead of disbursing capital directly to individual businesses, the foundation acts as an apex funding architecture that routes money through secondary fund managers.

Under this fund-of-funds structure, an initial allocation is provided to nineteen selected fund managers and specialised statutory entities, which in turn attract additional private investment.

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