To give a major boost to the research and innovation programmes in the country, the Central government has sanctioned INR1000 crore for the phase II of the Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India programme, Union Minister for Human Resources and Development Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday.
“Under the IMPRINT-II, a fund is being created by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) together, in which participation will come from industry and other interested ministries,” the minister said.
The IMPRINT is a MHRD initiative to address major engineering challenges and to enable, empower and embolden the nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance.
Prof. Indranil Manna of IIT-Kharagpur will be the National Coordinator of the project which will run as a separate vertical in coordination with the DST.
“The proposals for IMPRINT-II will be called from March 16 and will be sanctioned by May this year,” Javadekar added.
The minister said that over 142 projects at a cost of INR 318.71 crore are already under implementation under the IMPRINT-I programme.
“These projects cover crucial domains like security and defence, information technology, energy, sustainable habitat, advance materials, health care, nano technology, climate change,” the minister said, adding, “All these projects are expected to result in publications and also patents.”
This initiative of the MHRD with twofold mandate is aimed at developing new engineering education policy and creating a road map to pursue engineering challenges.