Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today that India is no longer just a consumer of technology but has now become a pioneer driving technological change across the world.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Emerging Science and Technology Innovation Conclave 2025 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Modi said the government is working to make research simpler and more accessible to build a strong and modern innovation ecosystem in the country. He said India has created the world’s most successful digital public infrastructure, which is now being recognised globally.

Modi said that the policies and decisions taken in recent years to make India an innovation hub are now showing clear results. He shared that the country’s spending on Research and Development has doubled in the last decade, and the number of registered patents has gone up 17 times. He added that India is now the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, with more than six thousand deep-tech startups working in areas like clean energy and advanced materials.

He said that India’s semiconductor sector has made a major leap forward and also highlighted how the country’s bio-economy has grown from $10 billion in 2014 to nearly $ 140 billion today.

Modi said that India has made great progress in several new areas such as green hydrogen, quantum computing, deep sea research, and critical minerals. He noted that the country has built a strong presence in all these fields.

He said the government is focused on creating a modern research ecosystem and making it easier for scientists and innovators to work. Modi added that reforms have been introduced so that prototypes can move quickly from the lab to the market.

Calling the 21st century a time of extraordinary change, the Prime Minister said that the global order is shifting and that the pace of transformation today is exponential, not gradual. He mentioned that the Anusandhan National Research Foundation has been established to strengthen research and innovation in Indian universities. He also said that efforts are being made to encourage research and development in the private sector.

During the event, the Prime Minister launched the Rs 1 lakh crore Research Development and Innovation Scheme Fund to give a major boost to India’s research ecosystem. The scheme aims to build a strong private sector-driven model for innovation and development.

Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh, Principal Scientific Adviser Prof Ajay Kumar Sood, Nobel Laureate Sir Andre Geim, and several other dignitaries were also present at the event.