Why it is in the news
On 29 September 2026, the Technology Development Board (TDB), a statutory body under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), posted a notice that invitations for funding under the ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund would close after this month “due to administrative reasons”. TDB is the only agency currently selecting beneficiaries, and it has run out of money after one round, putting the Government's flagship deep-tech financing programme on pause.
The exam angle
Issue: Can a state-seeded, two-tier patient-capital fund crowd private money into deep-tech R&D when its delivery depends on a thin layer of fund managers?