Budgets offer a mixed bag of goodies – so it is with science that has seen both promising and indifferent budgets over the years. As they look at the half-full (or half-empty) tumbler, some see encouraging initiatives, while others crunch the numbers and reveal a disheartening percentage of the GDP allocated for science.

Some top scientists from diverse disciplines shared their views with The Hindu on their takeaways from the 2023-2024 Union Budget, in terms of funding, initiatives, its relevance to their institutions’ areas of work, and what more is left to be done. The basic numbers are available to recap here.

Dr N. Kalaiselvi, Director-General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

The first budget of Amrit Kaal is a visionary one. The budget is very favourable to the science and technology ecosystem of the country. It has focused on the crucial areas of energy security, food and nutrition security, health security, environment security, etc. CSIR has an active presence in all these areas.

CSIR plays a pivotal role in green hydrogen R&D under the National Hydrogen Mission, for which Rs. 19,700 crore has been allocated. The budget also takes into account battery energy storage. It provides a boost to research in the area of energy technologies, especially renewables and green energy.

The Hon’ble Finance Minister has assured support to India of becoming a ‘Global Millets Hub’. The announcement coming in the International Year of Millets augurs well not just for India but for the entire world.  It is also heartening to note that Rs 2,200 crore has been budgeted for high-value horticulture.

CSIR has a Sickle Cell Anaemia Mission, and the announcement today of a National Mission to eliminate Sickle Cell Anaemia by 2047 is visionary. Also the application of artificial intelligence [AI] in various sectors, including healthcare applications and focus on futuristic medical devices and technologies, augur well for taking up research and development in key health areas.

CSIR has an ongoing AI programme that will augment the application of AI in several areas including health through Mission Mode Projects in the coming financial year. 

It is heartening to note that a new programme to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals will be taken up through centres of excellence. The budget announcement to encourage industry to invest in research and development in specific priority areas is laudable.

CSIR also has a Waste-to-Wealth Mission that addresses environmental issues. Several important announcements have been made, on the environment front. Be it the preservation of mangroves and wetlands, promoting natural farming, biomass, bio-manure and biogas, scientific management of dry and wet waste, the 2023 Union Budget, through programmes such as PM-PRANAM, MISHTI and Amrit Darohar, is a truly green budget.

Dr C.P. Rajendran, National Institute for Advanced Studies

India’s 2023-2024 Union Budget unveiled today indicates an allocation of Rs 2,000 crore more than what the Ministry of Science and Technology received in the previous budget. But considering the growth in expenditure on account of inflation, etc., this cannot be termed as a big jump.

Although I would say this as a welcome step, India’s science expenditure still hovers around 0.7% of GDP – way below the other developed and developing countries, including China.  The increased fund infusion of Rs 2,000 crore is probably required to meet the allocation shown against the National Science Foundation (NSF), a new funding scheme shown under the Department of Science and Technology.

Although the idea of the NSF was initially stated in the 2020 National Education Policy, it is only now that the government has made the actual fund allocation for this new entity. This again is a welcome step for developing a culture of research in the country, purportedly for undertaking major initiatives in the state universities and public institutions, but it is not clear how this is going to be different in its financial management from the existing funding agencies, which are stifled by rigid bureaucracy.

What are the guarantees that this agency will remain academically independent to help basic research to flourish? Another issue is how this budgetary allocation will be translated from mere numbers to actual allocation at the ground level. There have been cases where grandiose schemes like ‘Scheme for Transformational and Advanced Research In Science’ (STARS) are announced, but individual researchers many times are frustrated because they don’t receive the required amount in time.

Such bungling is also apparent in the recently announced cost-cutting measures in schemes to support women researchers. It is widely felt that it is often less difficult to have a project approved than to have funds periodically released. We need more infusion of funds and, equally importantly, India must choose to break the bureaucratic barriers that exist in government departments.

Dr Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT)

The positive takeaway from the budget is that the vision of new modern India is very clear and this should promote research and innovation in all scientific areas. The guiding principle of “Green Growth” in this emerging innovation ecosystem mandates the biotechnology sector to play a major role in finding sustainable and recyclable solutions in almost all domains, including health, agriculture, and clean energy. The Department of Biotechnology is bringing out a BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) Policy for green, clean and prosperous India that will be enabled through “high performance biomanufacturing”.

The Department will take forward the successes of the COVID-19 vaccine mission by developing new safe and effective vaccines for existing and emerging diseases. The focus would be on taking forward genomics-based programmes and integrated solutions for both health and non-health sectors.

The Department will continue the development of sustainable aviation fuels, zero waste biorefinery, biobased alternatives to single use plastics and synthetic biology tools for carbon capture and utilisation for a clean environment. In the animal sector, renewed focus would be given to the ‘One Health’ consortium established by the DBT to make us ready for future pandemics. 

The Indian Tuberculosis Genomic Surveillance consortium would be operationalised for prediction of drug resistance & strain lineage to support the Government of India’s goal of ‘TB Mukt Bharat’. For mainstreaming of millets, a programme on genomic characterisation of minor millets is being developed. Agri-based gene editing platform would be established for fast tracking of leads available in Indian institutions.

A strong industry-academic partnership should be in place to cater to the growing needs of bio-based industries. Linkages between research and commercialisation should be strengthened, through enhanced industry participation and feedback across all technology readiness levels. Private sector should enhance its investment in R&D and Venture capitalists encouraged to fund high risk Startup science success stories. Quality assurance of Indian products and services should be augmented as per international standards. 

The department has subsumed its 14 autonomous institutions to create one Apex autonomous body, Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC), towards achieving “minimum government, maximum governance”. This is expected to transform the biotech research and innovation ecosystem and science governance, maximising impact.

On the other hand, the Biological Research Regulatory Approval Portal (BioRRAP) was launched by the DBT as a whole-of-government approach in tune with our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision to strengthen inter-departmental synergies in functioning of agencies regulating various aspects of biological research. The portal serves as a gateway and helps researchers to follow approval of their applications for regulatory clearances.

Dr Soumitro Banerjee, Professor, Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata

What does the scientific community expect to see in a Union Budget? The current level of expenditure in S&T is hopelessly inadequate if India is to compete at the international level in knowledge generation. So the scientific community expects to see a significant increase in the outlay for research. But out of a total budget of Rs. 45,03,097 crore, only Rs. 16,361 crore – i.e. 0.36% of the central budget – has been allocated to the Ministry of Science & Technology.

Out of that amount, the Department of Science & Technology (DST) has been allocated Rs 7,931.05 crore; the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Rs 2,683.86 crore; and the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) Rs 5,746.51 crore. These are the agencies that fund scientific research, so appropriate funding of these agencies is crucial. The corresponding figures last year were: Rs 6,000 crore, Rs 2,581 crore, and Rs 5,636 crore, respectively. Considering the inflation of 5.13%, the outlay in DBT and DSIR has actually reduced: these had to be Rs 2,713 crore and Rs 5,925 crore, respectively, to maintain the same level of support.

More than 90% of the funds of these organisations is spent on salaries, leaving very little for conducting scientific research.

Other ministries also support scientific research, including the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE, allocation Rs 25,078 crore), Department of Space (allocation Rs 12,543 crore), etc. But only a small fraction of their budget is spent on R&D. For example, in the DAE, a major chunk of the fund is allocated to projects like building new reactors, enhancing and augmenting facilities, etc., and a much smaller amount goes into DAE-funded institutions like the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, the National Institute of Science Education and Research, and the Harish Chandra Research Institute. The allocation to the Dept. of Space has actually been reduced from Rs 13,700 crore last year to Rs 12,543.9 crore this year.

The scientific manpower in any country comes from the education sector, and a robust health of education is crucial for its scientific prowess. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 document says (Article 26.1), “Unfortunately, public expenditure on education in India has not come close to the recommended level of 6% of GDP, as envisaged by the 1968 Policy, reiterated in the Policy of 1986, and which was further reaffirmed in the 1992 review of the Policy.” It goes on to commit that “the Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.”

Education being in the concurrent list, the country’s expenditure on education cannot be estimated from the Union budget alone. But it is generally believed that the Union government’s commitment has to be at least 10% of the Union Budget in order for the total spending on education to reach a level of 6% of the country’s GDP.

The scientific community, from platforms like the Breakthrough Science Society and the India March for Science, have been demanding this for many years. Ever since the introduction of the 2020 NEP, successive budgets have not reflected the necessary financial commitment. This year also, the outlay on education is Rs 1,12,899 crore, which is only 2.5% of the Union Budget.

Tapasya Srivastava, Professor, Department of Genetics, University of Delhi South Campus

A total outlay of Rs 16361.42 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Science & Technology and Rs 2,980 crore to the Department of Health Research, an increase of 15% and a decrease of 7%, respectively, from last year.

As always, all well-thought-out plans need even better implementation, so the real benefit of the increased allocation in science and technology will lie in how the funds are allocated and the vision implemented.

Moving hand in hand with the agritech push, millet research will have tremendous nutritional benefits in the long run.

Opening up select Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) labs for research to both public and private sector is much required. The push for biomedical devices education and research, pharmaceutical research, as well as the focus on interdisciplinary research in AI are much needed steps. Together, these can transform health research in India, if implemented cohesively.

For education, the Hon’ble Finance Minister in her speech gave two important indicators that I feel will be game changers if implemented well: one, the stress laid on reading books and the digital library; and two, the emphasis on teacher training.

In a fast-paced world focused on information capture from the internet, moving back to a library-based reading for students will have far-reaching learning benefits.

For teacher training, the innovative pedagogy that has found a mention will require going beyond just being a buzzword. Identifying trainers for teachers is key to successful implementation.

Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav sought to compare Union Budget 2023 with previous Budgets. 
| Photo Credit: PTI

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday said the Centre has cheated Bihar in the Union Budget 2023-24 and fooled the people of the State.

“Bihar is a backward State. The Prime Minister and the Centre had made commitments to grant Bihar a special package and status several times before but nothing has been done so far. They have only fooled the people of Bihar and cheated us,” Mr. Yadav said while speaking to mediapersons in Patna.

He also sought to compare Wednesday’s Budget with previous Budgets. “There are lots of differences between previous Budgets and this Budget. People should know about the revenue and expenditure and they should be told from where the money is coming and where it is going… but they are not”, said Mr. Yadav.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is currently undertaking a ‘Samadhan Yatra’ (solution journey) across the State, said he couldn’t listen to the Budget speech as the yatra was pre-scheduled. “Once I wrap up today’s yatra, I will get to know the details,” Mr. Kumar told mediapersons in Supaul.

However, Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, who was alongside Mr. Kumar, said the State’s demands were not met in the Budget. “The people of Bihar had a lot of expectations from the Budget but the Centre has again cheated the State,” said Mr. Choudhary.

The Congress also echoed similar views. Senior State Congress leader Ajit Sharma said, “Bihar has got nothing in the Budget and the people of Bihar have been cheated once again,” said.

Opposition BJP leaders termed the Budget “pro-people”. “It’s a balanced and pro-people Budget which will benefit all sections of people in the country,” said Vijay Kumar Sinha, BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly.

The Union Budget seems to be full of good intentions but what happened to the good intentions of last year, how much of it was realised? Education budget is down to 2.5% from 2.64% while the health budget is down to 1.98% from 2.2%. Quality and accessibility of free basic education is still a big issue and still it is not addressed. There is no vision for improving the education sector, according to the Aam Aadmi Party, Mysuru.

Reacting to the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, the party asked, “The plan for Economic Empowerment of Women, Relief for MSMEs, National Digital Library for Children and Adolescents is looking good on paper, but how much of it will be realised? Mahila Samman Savings Certificate is good but why only for 2 years?”

Unfortunately, the potential of the women workforce of our country has never been harnessed. Women workforce could add to a significant increase in GDP for which there is a lack of vision from the Centre, argued Malavika Gubbivani, AAP leader, Mysuru.

The delivery of previous promises like piped water connection, PMAY housing, etc., has been less than 50%. How much of the promises will be delivered this time, she asked, in a press statement.

Gas subsidy should have been reintroduced. There is nothing to ease inflation, the statement added.

Corporate tax should have been increased and the benefits passed on to the middle class/salaried class. “Yet again, this government has proved it is pro-corporate,” she alleged.

In her 2022 budget, the Finance Minister had promised economic growth to be 9.2% but actual growth is likely to be 6.8% according to the RBI (prediction as of December). an outcome budget like the one presented by Delhi government should be followed. The effectiveness of the measures announced in the previous budget should be presented along with social audit results, argued Ms. Gubbivani.

Clean green hydrogen energy generation.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Underlining a commitment to accelerate the Indian economy’s transition to one powered by green energy, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on Wednesday mentioned a slew of schemes aimed at promoting clean energy and sustainable living.

Green energy was among the ‘Saptarishi’ or seven guiding lights Ms. Sitharaman mentioned in her address that would steer India through ‘Amrit Kaal’ (next 25 years).

She said the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had earmarked ₹35,000 crore for “priority capital investment”, though neither her speech nor the Budget documents provided more clarity on it.

Following up on the government’s recent announcement of giving a push to ‘green hydrogen’ and promoting renewable energy projects, the Minister said battery energy storage systems with a capacity of 4,000 megawatt hours will be “supported” with viability gap funding to encourage investment.

The Budget also waived customs duty on capital goods and machinery for lithium-ion battery manufacturing. The move is expected to make electric vehicles and storage systems cheaper.

Boost for solar projects

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has received a budgetary allocation of ₹10,222 crore, a 45% hike from the ₹7,033 crore it expects to spend in the current financial year. The most significant hikes in the Ministry’s programmes are for ‘off-grid’ solar projects, on which the government is expected to spend ₹61 crore in the current fiscal but has budgeted ₹360 crore for the coming financial year.

India had a target of installing 100 gigawatt (GW) of solar power projects by 2022 but has only installed 63 GW. Off-grid solar projects constitute less than 5% of the target. The allocation for solar power expected to be supplied to the grid has been raised to ₹4,970 crore, up from the ₹3,469 crore expected to be spent by March 2023. The National Green Hydrogen Mission – a ₹19,000-crore programme to produce, use and supply hydrogen from renewable energy sources – has been allotted ₹297 crore.

3 key measures

“For the budget allocation of ₹35,000 crore (about $4 billion) to start catalysing the nearly $30 billion in energy transition finance required annually by India for its net zero future, three types of measures will be needed: risk guarantees to reduce the cost of capital for low-carbon investments in the country; demand aggregation measures as has been done for LED lighting and electric buses; and viability gap financing for hydrogen electrolysers and offshore wind as announced for battery storage,” Ulka Kelkar, director, World Resources Institute, said in a statement.

Ms. Sitharaman also mentioned a ‘green credit’ programme to be notified under the Environment (Protection) Act. “This will incentivise environmentally sustainable and responsive actions by companies, individuals and local bodies, and help mobilise additional resources for such activities,” she said. “Building on India’s success in afforestation, the Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) will be taken up for mangrove plantation along the coastline and on salt pan lands,” she added.

An official in the Environment Ministry, who declined to be identified, told The Hindu that such a programme would be “sweeping” and involve multiple Ministries. “It’s still being finalised. However, it will involve several existing schemes that incentivise emission reductions by industries or the growing of plantations in barren land [that become stores of carbon over time].”

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Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended on a mixed note on Wednesday as the euphoria about the Union Budget fizzled out, with investors going for profit-taking ahead of the Fed interest rate decision.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 158.18 points or 0.27% to settle at 59,708.08 after it trimmed most of the intra-day gains. During the day, it had zoomed 1,223.54 points or 2% to 60,773.44.

In contrast, the broader NSE Nifty declined 45.85 points or 0.26% to end at 17,616.30.

“A well-tuned Budget with strong emphasis on consumption and capex has lifted optimism in the market; however, volatility sparked in the latter half as focus shifted back to the Adani saga and FOMC meeting.

“Life insurance players witnessed heavy selling as the budget pushed for the new tax regime, making insurance products less appealing as a tax-saving tool,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Stock markets have reacted well to the provisions immediately due to absence of any major unexpected negatives and adherence to fiscal prudence, said Dhiraj Relli, MD and CEO, HDFC Securities.

The markets will now look forward to the other triggers — the U.S. Fed meet outcome, RBI’s next MPC meeting and the balance Q3 corporate results, he added.

“In a nutshell, I would state this Budget to be prudent, progressive and pragmatic,” Mr. Relli noted.

From the Sensex pack, ITC, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major gainers.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were the prominent laggards.

“Overall, the Budget is excellent. The absence of negative news is a tremendous source of optimism. And the stock market has been ecstatic about this budget,” said Sunil Damania, Chief Investment Officer, MarketsMojo.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday tweaked the slabs to provide some relief to the middle class by announcing that no tax would be levied on annual income of up to ₹7 lakh under the new tax regime.

She also allowed a ₹50,000 standard deduction to taxpayers under the new regime, where assessees cannot claim deductions or exemptions on their investments.

“The government’s relief on personal income tax by providing rebate upto Rs 7 lakh and making changes in the slab rate under the new income-tax regime comes as a major boost to the Indian markets. The FM did not tinker with the capital gains which has cheered the markets,” said Sanjay Moorjani, Research Analyst, SAMCO Securities.

Meanwhile, an overall positive trend in the global markets also cheered investors.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the positive territory.

Equities in Europe were trading in the green during mid-session deals. Markets in the U.S. had ended with gains on Tuesday.

“India Budget 2023 has offered a multi-dimensional view. The 3 Cs which stand out are — capex increase, consumption boost, capital gains tax status quo. Mindful of the fact that there is hardly any space for fiscal expansion, FY24 fiscal deficit is pegged at 5.9% and expected to see progressive reduction by FY 2026.

“Clearly a bull’s-eye budget satisfying most strata of the society and of course a thumbs up from the market as well,” said Lakshmi Iyer, CEO-Investment Advisory, Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd.

Ms. Sitharaman on Wednesday announced hiking the capital expenditure by 33% to ₹10 lakh crore for infrastructure development for 2023-24, which will be at 3.3% of the GDP.

“A 33% increase in capital expenditure to ₹10 lakh crore, the highest ever, will go a long way in building roads, ports, and airports — crucial for making India a reliable investment destination. Investment of ₹2.4 lac crore in Railways is commendable,” said Anand Rathi, Founder & Chairman, Anand Rathi Group.

Ms. Sitharaman on Wednesday listed seven priorities of Union Budget 2023-24, including infrastructure, green growth, financial sector and youth power.

She said four transformative opportunities can be used in Amrit Kaal for enhancing economic empowerment.

“In keeping with its focus on inclusive growth, the Union Budget has hiked outlays on infrastructure and agriculture which in our view would have a force multiplier impact on the economy,” S. Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities, said.

International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.05% to $85.42 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth a net ₹5,439.64 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.