The newly-elected Indian government laid out its plans for the country in its 2014–15 budget last week and research has fared reasonably well. Indian scientists had feared that there would be cuts to the country’s science and technology base, but were relieved to see a small increase in overall funding.
About Rs 35.44 billion (£344 million) has been earmarked for the Department of Science and Technology in the proposed budget. It’s a hike of 11% over last year’s allocation of Rs 31.84 billion. ‘The Department of Science and Technology has some of country’s leading research centres in areas such as nanotechnology, materials science and biomedical device technology,’ Arun Jaitley, the finance minister, said in his budget speech. He added that the government will strengthen such centres through public–private collaborations.
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Richa Malhotra 