Research and Innovation Organisations

Universities

About 20 years ago, there was little research at Indian universities, and even today, most of the approximately 1,000 colleges and almost all of the 40,000 colleges are mainly educational institutions. At the same time, the government has been giving a growing impetus to research by supporting universities with corresponding funding programs. Among the around 100 “Institutions of National Importance“, 45 Central Universities, and some State Universities, there are already a good number of academic institutions that can demonstrate world-class, sometimes leading, research in selected areas. These institutions have modern research infrastructure and employ well qualified scientists with good international networks.

Non – University Research Institutions

In addition to universities, there are a large number of specialised, non-university research institutions under different ministries. Some of these also conduct cutting-edge research. They include various specialist research councils with a number of institutes, such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Indian Council of Medical Research. The two departments, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), which also belong to the Ministry of Science and Technology, also have their own research institutes. In addition, there are institutions directly under the Prime Minister. These include military and energy research institutions as well as the International Space Research Organization, which has developed its own low-cost technologies and powered India’s successful space program.