Budget gives science missions big figures but core funding gaps persist, PgII

Key Highlights:

• The Union Budget 2026-27 emphasizes science as a growth instrument, allocating significant funds to biopharma, semiconductors, and carbon capture.
• Biopharma SHAKTI, a new program, receives the largest allocation with ₹10,000 crore over five years to address non-communicable diseases.
• Budget includes upgrading four astronomy facilities with ₹3,500 crore, but support for the Indian Institute of Astrophysics has stagnated.
• Experts highlight concerns about reliable funding, autonomy for research institutions, and transparency in large finance vehicles for innovation.

Detailed Insights:

• In previous years, allocations for the Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Science and Technology were significantly reduced from budgeted estimates.
• Biopharma SHAKTI aims to scale indigenous development and manufacturing of biologics and biosimilars, linking to the earlier DBT-National Biopharma Mission.
• Concerns exist that Biopharma SHAKTI may prioritize downstream manufacturing goals over the upstream life-science ecosystem.
• The budget supports mission-mode initiatives like the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 and the new carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) mission.
• Emphasis on research across multiple mission-mode initiatives and infrastructure spanning sectors could improve India’s translational capacity.
• India's gross expenditure on R&D has remained around 0.64-0.7% of GDP, effectively a cut when adjusted for inflation.
• The National Education Policy 2020 emphasizes multi-disciplinarity, suggesting legacy State universities should lead in basic sciences and regional innovation.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Biologics: Medicines made from living organisms or their products.
• Biosimilars: Biological products that are similar to an already approved biologic medicine.
• Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS): Technologies that capture CO2 emissions from sources and either reuse or store them.