Operationalise the Anusandhan National Research Foundation

TDB signed a ₹116-crore financing agreement for indigenous green propulsion under the RDI Fund, whose special purpose fund sits within ANRF. This is financing support, not a completed propulsion project.

The government approved 19 second-level managers for the separate RDI Fund, housed within ANRF, with a ₹7,131-crore fund commitment. This is a financing-channel milestone, not evidence that those funds had reached research enterprises.

A parliamentary reply reported ₹603.40 crore actually utilised under ANRF in FY2025–26 against a ₹1,506-crore ANRF allocation. For FY2026–27, ₹76.58 crore had been utilised by 21 July. Private-partner amounts listed mainly as letters of intent or commitments should not be counted as cash received.

A Lok Sabha reply confirmed ANRF was operational. It reported ₹961.35 crore financially assigned under ANRF by 23 March 2026, seven PAIR networks with 42 approved spoke institutions, and 20 Prime Minister Professorships across 19 states and one Union Territory. Assignment is not the same as expenditure.

The Science and Technology Ministry reported that 718 young researchers had received Early Career Research Grant support and university research networks were active under PAIR.

A parliamentary reply reported 930 projects sanctioned across the Early Career Research, Inclusivity Research, PAIR and MAHA-EV programmes. These were sanctioned projects, not a count of completed research outcomes.

The newly operational ANRF launched its first two initiatives: the Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant and the MAHA Electric Vehicle research mission.

ANRF’s Governing Board held its first meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister, and initiated its post-election programme agenda.

The ANRF Act came into force before the 2024 election, establishing the legal foundation. Post-election operation is assessed through the later board, programmes, grants and spending.