India is making substantial strides in its scientific and technological landscape, marked by several crucial developments over the past 24-48 hours. These initiatives aim to foster innovation, strengthen research and development (R&D) capabilities, and position India as a global leader in emerging technologies.

Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) 2025 and RDI Scheme

The first-ever Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) 2025, held from November 3-5, 2025, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, served as a pivotal platform for these announcements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the conclave and launched the historic ₹1 lakh-crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme Fund. This landmark corpus is designed to provide long-tenure, low or zero-interest loans to fund and refinance private-sector R&D projects, particularly those involving high-risk, high-impact scientific ventures. The RDI Scheme is crucial for translating prototypes into scalable, market-ready products and for commercializing innovations faster, with a focus on sunrise sectors like quantum tech, green hydrogen, space, bioengineering, and next-gen communication.

ESTIC 2025 is set to replace the traditional Indian Science Congress, aiming to be a more structured, innovation-driven forum aligned with India's 'Viksit Bharat 2047' vision. During the conclave, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) led a thematic session on 'Digital Communication,' showcasing India's advancements in telecom innovation and its vision for 6G. India has achieved one of the fastest 5G rollouts globally, established 100 5G labs for future use cases and 6G R&D, and aims to secure 10% of worldwide 6G patents by 2030.

New AI Governance Guidelines

In a move to balance innovation with responsible development, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) released new India AI Governance Guidelines. Advocating a "hands-off" approach, the framework prioritizes promoting innovation with necessary guardrails, rather than "throttling" AI adoption. This revised framework, drafted by a committee headed by Balaraman Ravindran of IIT Madras, emphasizes expanding access to AI infrastructure, building capacity through AI skilling, adopting agile regulatory frameworks, and boosting accountability in the AI ecosystem.

India-UK Science & Technology Partnership Dashboard

Further bolstering international collaboration, India and the United Kingdom jointly unveiled a new digital platform: the India-United Kingdom Science and Technology Partnership (IN-UK-STP) Dashboard. This pilot dashboard, launched in New Delhi, tracks 143 bilateral science & technology projects, enhancing transparency, providing data-driven insights, and facilitating strategic coordination in R&D cooperation between the two nations.

Other Key Developments

In other significant developments, Odisha's Chief Minister inaugurated India's first end-to-end Silicon Carbide (SiC) semiconductor at Info Valley, Bhubaneswar, marking a major step towards self-reliance in semiconductor manufacturing. Additionally, the Government of Telangana established the Telangana Artificial Intelligence Innovation Hub (TAIH) in Hyderabad with the ambitious goal of boosting AI research and development and positioning Telangana among the top 20 global AI hubs by 2035.