The Indian government has approved the first group of intermediary fund managers under its ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund, creating a new channel for directing long-duration capital into private-sector research and deep-technology companies. The first cohort consists of 14 alternative investment funds and five focused research organisations, with an aggregate government commitment of ₹7,131 crore.
The Empowered Group of Secretaries approved the organisations at its 8 October meeting. The AIF group includes Chiratae Ventures, Blume Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Speciale Invest, YourNest Capital Advisors, Sixth Sense Ventures, Celesta India, AdvantEdge Investment Managers, IvyCap Ventures, Ideaspring Capital, TVS Capital Funds, AMA Capital Advisors, Translation Endeavors and Campus. The five focused research organisations will provide an additional route for supporting technology-intensive projects with longer development cycles.
These organisations will operate as second-level fund managers rather than receiving grants for their own research. They will evaluate and finance eligible companies or projects under the RDI framework, placing investment decisions with specialist managers that already have experience in venture capital, scientific commercialisation or sector-specific technology development. The government plans to invite additional applications and add further fund-manager cohorts.
The broader RDI scheme was approved in July 2025 and launched in November that year. It carries a six-year outlay of ₹1 lakh crore, including ₹20,000 crore earmarked for FY2025-26. Its structure is intended to increase private-sector participation in research by providing patient capital to projects that may have strategic or commercial potential but face long development periods, expensive validation requirements and limited conventional financing options.
Eligible areas include artificial intelligence, quantum technology, robotics, biotechnology, health, space, the digital economy, energy security and transition, climate technologies and other sectors linked to technological self-reliance. Implementation guidelines cover R&D-intensive technologies at Technology Readiness Level 4 and above, allowing the programme to support the progression from validated laboratory concepts towards prototypes, commercial-scale development and deployment.
The first ₹7,131 crore allocation activates one of the principal financing layers of the fund. It also creates a sizeable public-capital mandate for Indian venture and research organisations at a time when growth-stage funding remains concentrated in a relatively small number of AI, climate and deeptech companies. Future allocations will determine how much of the ₹1 lakh crore corpus is distributed through AIFs, research organisations, development-finance institutions and other approved channels.
