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RDI scheme set to ignite scientific breakthroughs & foster real-world innovation: Aditya Sharma
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Nandita Vijayasimha, Bengaluru
August 06 , 2025
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India is at a defining point in its scientific and technological evolution, and the recently announced Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) scheme represents a bold step toward reshaping the country’s pharmaceutical and healthcare innovation landscape, said Aditya Sharma, head of process solutions, India Region, Merck Life Science.
We believe the RDI scheme will spark not only a rise in scientific output but also the development of an innovation-driven culture rooted in real-world impact. It has the potential to build an ecosystem that champions bold thinking, supports breakthrough research, and encourages meaningful collaboration, he added.
With a long-term vision and significant public investment, the scheme has the potential to become a national turning point, particularly as the boundaries between biology and digital technologies continue to blur. The growing influence of artificial intelligence, automation, and data-driven platforms is transforming how scientific discoveries are made, validated, and commercialized, offering India a strategic opportunity to lead in this new era of convergence, he said.
Historically, Indian pharma has been conservative in its investment approach, often shying away from high-risk, long-gestation research and development. Private sector contributions to gross R&D expenditure remain modest, only about 35%, compared to 70–80% in most developed nations. This disparity reflects the broader challenges of fostering deep-tech innovation in an ecosystem where risk appetite and patient capital are limited. However, the RDI scheme signals a new direction, one that can build investor confidence, instil conviction in home-grown innovation, and strengthen India’s position as a global knowledge hub, Sharma told Pharmabiz in an email.
The scheme’s Rs. 1 lakh crore corpus presents an unprecedented opportunity to advance high-impact areas such as cell and gene therapies, precision medicine, and green bioprocessing technologies. These are not merely scientific milestones; but essential solutions to address national and global healthcare challenges. As the ‘Pharmacy of the World’, the time has come for India to complement its strength in affordable generics with original, proprietary innovation. Balancing accessibility with invention is not just aspirational; it is now achievable, he noted.
A core strength of the RDI scheme lies in its funding structure. It introduces a two-tier mechanism aimed at maximizing private sector participation. At the first tier, a Special Purpose Fund (SPF) will be anchored within the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), tasked with overseeing the Rs. 1 lakh crore corpus. Rather than investing directly in industry players, this fund will empower second-tier fund managers, including Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), development finance institutions, and NBFCs(non-banking financial companies), to identify and back high-potential ventures. This helps democratize access to capital with a levels playing field for start-ups and mid-sized firms, enabling them to pursue transformative innovations with public support, he pointed out.
We at Merck Life Science see this as an enabling moment collaborate across the ecosystem, be it with industry peers, academic institutions, or emerging biotech start-ups. Our focus is to support the development of robust process solutions, accelerating digital transformation in laboratories, and helping bring complex therapies to market faster and more efficiently. With the right momentum, India can move beyond simply keeping pace with global scientific progress to leading the next wave of life science innovation, with purpose, scale, and global relevance, said Sharma.
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