₹1 lakh crore RDI Fund names its first 19 second-level fund managers

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The news

NEW DELHI, 12 October. Per PIB, the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund has picked its first 19 second-level fund managers: an Empowered Group of Secretaries on 8 October approved 14 Alternative Investment Funds (privately pooled investment vehicles) and 5 Focused Research Organisations, with RDI commitments of ₹7,131 crore; each must raise matching private capital. The Technology Development Board also signed a ₹86 crore deal, as optionally convertible debt (a loan that may turn into equity), with Bengaluru’s Peptris Technologies to take four AI-discovered drug candidates from Technology Readiness Level 4 to 6. On scale, ICMR’s Kamini Walia (The Indian Express) puts India’s R&D spending at about 0.64% of GDP; NITI Aayog’s Abhay Karandikar puts it at about 0.84%.

Prelims nuggets

The ANRF Act, 2023 created the Anusandhan National Research Foundation and repealed the Science and Engineering Research Board Act, 2008.
The RDI scheme (Cabinet approval, July 2025) has two tiers: a Special Purpose Fund within ANRF, and second-level fund managers who finance firms, mainly through long-term low- or nil-interest loans.
Technology Readiness Levels run from 1 (basic principles) to 9 (proven in operation); the RDI Fund backs TRL 4 and above.