PILANI, Oct 14: Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani’s Pilani Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Society (PIEDS) has been selected under the Government of India’s recently announced Rs. 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Scheme. This achievement marks a major milestone in the Institute’s commitment to advancing research and contributing to India’s research and development ecosystem.
The RDI Scheme, launched by the Government of India, aims to strengthen the country’s research and innovation landscape by encouraging greater private-sector participation and promoting public-private investment in advanced research and technology development. The operationalisation of the initial cohort of Focused Research Organisations (FROs) is expected to contribute to the country’s broader technological advancement objectives.
With a total commitment of Rs. 7,131 crore approved for the first cohort, the five fund managers, including BITS Pilani PIEDS, will channel capital to eligible technology enterprises undertaking research, development and innovation activities at Technology Readiness Level 4 and above.
Established in 2004 as BITS Pilani’s Technology Business Incubator with support from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, PIEDS is among the country’s longer-standing academic incubators. It has funded more than 280 technology startups, with the combined valuation of the startups supported exceeding $1 billion. PIEDS also runs incubation and acceleration programmes with central government ministries, corporate partners, and its alumni.
Sharing his thoughts on the achievement, Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Group Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani, said,
“India has no shortage of research ideas. The challenge is to turn more of them into products that reach society. Deep technology ventures need patient capital, access to research facilities and sustained industry engagement to make this journey. The RDI scheme is an important step in addressing this gap. We are pleased that PIEDS has been entrusted with this responsibility. Building on BITS Pilani’s research strengths and entrepreneurial culture, we look forward to supporting ventures that develop globally competitive technologies and contribute to India’s journey towards becoming a product nation.”
The selection of PIEDS as a fund manager under the RDI Scheme recognises decades of work at BITS Pilani in building ventures out of research. Translating laboratory research into market-ready technology needs patient capital at exactly the stage where private investors tend to hold back. This scheme addresses that gap, and PIEDS will bring BITS Pilani’s research depth, industry networks and experience of incubating deeptech ventures to identify and back enterprises that can build technology for India.
