Did the 2026-27 Union Budget live up to India’s science ambitions and scientists’ expectations? The views vary depending on what specific sectors have received and the initiatives announced, and they’re not all rosy. Here are comments from seven leading scientists from around India, including heads of key departments, institutes, and a leading State university, compiled by New Delhi-based freelance science journalist T.V. Padma for The Hindu.
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N. Kalaiselvi, Director-General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
CSIR director-general N. Kalaiselvi.
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
I view the Union Budget 2026-27 as a strong and reassuring affirmation of the Government of India’s belief in science, technology, and innovation as engines of national growth and self-reliance. The Budget reflects continuity and confidence in public research institutions, with sustained support to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and CSIR, including enhanced allocations for national laboratories, capacity building, and mission-oriented research. This steady funding trajectory provides an enabling foundation for long-term scientific capability and impact.
I am particularly encouraged by the introduction of several mission-mode and sector-focused initiatives in this Budget. Programmes such as Biopharma SHAKTI, India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, the Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Mission, and expanded support for electronic components manufacturing and critical minerals are timely and forward-looking. These initiatives resonate strongly with CSIR’s strengths in indigenous technology development, advanced materials, process innovation and translational research. The emphasis on improving production systems in areas such as water, energy and critical minerals, along with support for MSMEs, design-led innovation and sustainable manufacturing, aligns closely with CSIR’s ongoing reforms and Technology Transfer Commitments — 2030.
The Budget also sends a clear signal that science-led solutions will play a central role in addressing national priorities—from healthcare and clean energy to manufacturing competitiveness and climate action. CSIR, with its nationwide laboratory network and deep industry linkages, stands fully prepared to translate this policy intent into deployable technologies and measurable outcomes. I am confident that the Union Budget 2026–27 will further strengthen India’s innovation ecosystem and accelerate progress towards Viksit Bharat.
L.S. Shahisdhara, Director, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru
L.S. Shashidhara
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HANDOUT E -MAIL/The Hindu
We welcome the announcements of ₹10,000 crore over five years for the biopharma sector and ₹20,000 crore as part of this year’s allocation under the RDIF. Indian scientists, particularly in the biological sciences, have faced significant funding shortfalls following major changes introduced in 2024-25 to the fund-flow system and delays in the transition from the erstwhile SERB to the ANRF. These disruptions may have resulted in underspending by DBT and DST/SERB/ANRF during both the 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years. Thankfully, however, this underspending has not resulted in reduced budgetary allocations, and the outlays for DBT, DST, and ANRF remain unchanged from the previous year. ICMR, which has demonstrated strong spending performance in FY 2025-26, has received a 25% increase in its budget.
It appears that the budgetary allocation under the new Biopharma SHAKTI scheme has been made to the Department of Pharmaceuticals. It is important to recognise that many tools and technologies underpinning biopharma originate from researchers working across diverse areas of the life sciences, including biomedical and agricultural research. Indian academia and the R&D sector possess substantial expertise in modern synthetic biology, bioengineering, and computational and AI-driven approaches to protein design and metabolic engineering. Expanding this community through short-term training programmes and internship schemes would further strengthen national capacity. We therefore request the Department of Pharmaceuticals to actively engage the broader life sciences community in the design and implementation of schemes under Biopharma SHAKTI.
While the treatment and cure of diseases are critical in the short term, preventive measures to reduce the overall health burden are equally important for India, given its large population and uneven access to healthcare. A portion of the budgetary allocation under Biopharma SHAKTI, along with the enhanced funding for ICMR, could be effectively utilised to initiate and support such long-term preventive health programmes.
Globally, small- and medium-sized grants to emerging research groups play a critical role in advancing both basic and applied science. In India, such support is largely provided by DBT, ANRF, and ICMR, and we hope these agencies will increase the number of such grants. Finally, we sincerely request the Expenditure Division of the Ministry of Finance to facilitate smooth and timely fund flow, which will significantly enhance our ability to develop indigenous solutions for health, agriculture, and the environment.
Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
Rajesh Gokhale
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The Union Budget 2026-27 reinforces biotechnology’s central role in advancing India’s self-reliance in bioeconomy and biopharma. The budget estimate for DBT in 2026-27 is Rs. 3,446 crore, representing a 1.2x increase over the revised estimate (RE) of 2025-26 (Rs. 2,830.45 crore), reflecting sustained prioritisation of biotechnology.
BioPharma Shakti, with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 crore over five years, is a major boost for the DBT’s mandate to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cancer. This initiative will also accelerate indigenous development and manufacturing of biologics and biosimilars, strengthening affordability, access, and global competitiveness.
The DBT- National Biopharma Mission (NBM), implemented through BIRAC, has already created a strong foundation by supporting R&D across vaccines, biologics, biosimilars, diagnostics, and medical devices, along with GCP-compliant clinical trial sites, disease registries, vaccine networks, technology transfer offices, and shared infrastructure. Overall, NBM has provided a foundation stone for BioPharma Shakti, which will build on this ecosystem and scale it further.
Looking ahead, DBT already prioritises cell and gene therapy (CGT) as a strategic frontier through a proposed national mission focused on indigenous technology development and cost reduction. DBT will continue to anchor projects and programs on biologics and biosimilars, leveraging on iBRIC+ institutions’ R&D and innovation strength. BIRAC-DBT will further expand co-development support for biologics under the RDI Imitative.
This year’s budget and initiatives are also aligned with the BioE3 policy of the Government of India, which promotes advanced biomanufacturing for biotherapeutics such as monoclonal antibodies, mRNA therapy, and CGT, CCUS, smart biomanufacturing, etc.Building on the BioE3 and BioRIDE scheme, DBT will further scale up biomanufacturing hubs, biofoundries, and bio-AI hubs under the BioE3 policy, establishing ‘Moolankur’ hubs that integrate AI with biology to enable high-performance biomanufacturing.
Renu Vig, Vice-chancellor, Panjab University, Chandigarh
Renu Vig
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RV1811 (CC BY-SA)
The Union Budget 2026-27’s emphasis on ‘University Townships’ is a welcome shift toward industry-integrated learning. As Vice-Chancellor of 4th oldest multi-disciplinary education and research state university in the country, I believe such institutions must lead the ‘Knowledge Partnership’ in every State’s bid for these townships. Rather than being seen as separate from new developments, these legacy universities should be anchor partners in these new industrial-academic zones.
We should envision ‘Thematic Clusters’ where a legacy State University leads in the Basic Sciences, Humanities, and regional innovation, while technical institutes provide the necessary toolsets. This kind of multi-disciplinarity is the core of the NEP 2020, and it is already in the DNA of legacy institutions. These universities educate more than 80% of our students and have built the nation’s intellectual foundation over decades; they are a national asset that must be nurtured to ensure the success of India’s new educational map.
States can involve their universities while preparing proposals for bidding and later on use the existing available expertise for setting up the townships. Legacy universities should be leaders of this initiative.
Tarun Souradeep, Director, Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru:
Tarun Souradeep
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It is extremely heartening to note the explicit encouragement for Astronomy and Astrophysics through support for the establishment of major national observational facilities in India in the Budget 2026. Astronomy and our place in the Cosmos have been the prime quest for humankind since our intelligence prompted the first cycle of quests and conquests. These facilities would provide a unique platform to adopt, develop, and innovate to conquer new goals at the highest level of technology, allowing Indian scientists to take on further challenging new quests. While most may know that the ubiquitous CCD cameras in mobiles were developed for Astronomy, less well known is that the technology underlying higher-speed 4G and 5G series evolved in astronomical instrumentation laboratories a couple of decades earlier, stepping beyond radio frequencies into the microwave band and beyond. I am excited that this also paves the way for proposals for observatories in the microwave and Terahertz bands of Astronomy, accessible from the unique, dry Himalayan heights of Ladakh, which will allow India to develop expertise in strategic dual-use technology while promoting India as a prime global destination for observatories at these frequencies.
The development of detector technology at the microwave and terahertz ranges ties into the Budget 2026 support for the semiconductor mission, where, at the pinnacle of capability, superconducting semiconductor chips operating close to -273 Centigrade (milli-Kelvins) would open new Astronomical windows while providing quantum sensor technology capabilities critical to the Nation’s goal to attain global parity in quantum computing, communications, and modern defence infrastructure.
C.P. Rajendran, Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru
C.P. Rajendran
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Although India’s gross R&D expenditure has risen nominally, its share of GDP has stagnated between 0.64% and 0.7% for years, far behind advanced economies. The 2026-27 budget for science follows a globally fashionable script, prioritising applied sectors like space applications, AI, semiconductors, and quantum technology.
This year’s fund allocation for these sectors merely continues established trends. Despite a stated policy model that emphasises private-sector contributions, public funding still accounts for roughly two-thirds of total R&D expenditure. The government has failed to sufficiently enthuse private capital to invest in indigenous technological research, revealing a continued, structural preference for importing mature foreign technology over fostering domestic innovation.
The Department of Space received a 2.16% funding increase, reflecting strong political backing for flagship programs like the Gaganyaan manned mission—a high-visibility project that can deliver significant political optics ahead of an election.
The budget also envisions upgrading four major astronomy facilities, including the National Large Solar Telescope and the National Large Optical Infrared Telescope, a move that would strengthen solar physics and astrophysics research.
However, this commitment is undercut by a stark funding contradiction. The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), the premier institution tasked with leading this very work, has received no additional budgetary support. While the new telescopes carry an estimated price tag of Rs 3,500 crore, the IIA—alongside 24 other autonomous research institutions—will collectively receive only Rs 1,623 crore. This disparity reveals a priority for visible infrastructure over the foundational scientific capacity required to utilise it effectively.
The challenges faced by research institutions like the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) reflect a systemic crisis in basic research. National priorities have shifted decisively toward short-term, mission-mode programmes, starving fundamental science of sustained support.
While overall R&D budgets may show nominal increases, they consistently fail to outpace inflation, resulting in an effective year-on-year cut in real research funding. Consequently, India’s total R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP has remained stagnant. This chronic underfunding of basic science is compounded by an environment of excessive bureaucracy and top-down micromanagement within agencies like the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
This administrative burden actively hinders researchers, obstructing the timely and effective execution of even approved projects. The ultimate result is a paradox of low fund utilisation and unmet objectives, where the machinery of governance stifles the very innovation it is meant to foster.
The case of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) is emblematic of a broader pattern: ambitious announcements followed by minimal funding and a shift in priorities away from basic science. Conceived to invigorate research, the ANRF has been plagued by a lack of transparency and an over-reliance on private-sector partnerships focused on “prototype development,” sidelining curiosity-driven fundamental research. Despite an initial five-year promise of Rs 50,000 crore, it has received a meagre Rs 2,000 crore for the second consecutive year.
A similar disconnect defines the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) fund, announced last year to support deep-tech projects in the private sector with a promised Rs 1 lakh crore over seven years. To date, only Rs 3,000 crore has been disbursed, raising the critical question: “Spent on what?”
The funding disparity is stark. While public labs receive limited funds, the private sector is allocated ten times more public money through such schemes. This philosophy extends to fiscal policy, where big-tech companies like Meta and Google are offered a tax holiday until 2047 to establish data centres in India. These facilities are massive power guzzlers, a key reason such firms seek offshore locations. This incentive not only represents a significant transfer of public resources but will also impose a tremendous, long-term strain on India’s energy grid for decades.
The 2026-27 budget allocates a revised estimate of ₹3,200 crore to accelerate the implementation of 50,000 school labs nationwide. This initiative aims to foster hands-on learning and innovation, generating student interest in emerging technologies like robotics, AI, and the Internet of Things, and creating a pipeline for future researchers. However, this promising investment is introduced into an educational environment already compromised by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and its subsequent initiatives, which fundamentally undermine the spirit of inquiry and innovation the labs are meant to nurture.
Pradeep T., Professor of Chemistry, IIT-Madras
Pradeep T.
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IIT-Madras
The Union Budget presented today embeds science, research, technology, and education across multiple mission-mode initiatives and institutional interventions. Instead of presenting research as a standalone sector, the Budget positions it as an enabling foundation for economic growth, strategic autonomy, and workforce preparedness under the vision of Viksit Bharat. The speech reflects continuity with recent policy directions while expanding the scale and scope of science-linked national programmes. Explicit funding plans for this transition are presented.
Taken together, the provisions in the Union Budget 2026–27 indicate a clear policy direction toward system-level strengthening of India’s research and technology ecosystem. By embedding research explicitly within missions on biopharma, semiconductors, critical materials, and advanced manufacturing, the Budget moves beyond isolated funding toward sector-spanning research platforms. The expansion of specialised institutions (such as NIPERs), national research facilities, clinical trial networks, and industry-linked research and training centres is likely to increase the scale, diversity, and translational potential of advanced research in India. The emphasis on full-stack capabilities, regulatory science, and value-chain integration suggests an intent to move from technology adoption toward technology creation. If this approach moves towards other areas, it will be a great support for Vision 2047.
The proposed University Townships and inclusion-focused measures address long-standing structural constraints in higher education and research, potentially enabling sustained growth in human capital. Simultaneously, investments in frontier infrastructure and emerging technology education signal continuity in India’s aspiration to be a global contributor to advanced science and technology.
The budget largely presents policy perspectives on India’s growth trajectory. Therefore, it is important for various missions/ministries to allocate sector-specific funding to create the necessary S&T breakthroughs critical for realising the dreams of various missions. Systematic increase in allocation in the coming years is essential to make an impact globally and specific details towards this vision are expected in the course of time.
