The Anusandhan National Research Foundation approved the establishment of a ₹1 lakh crore, approximately USD 12 billion, Research, Development and Innovation Fund in October 2025. The fund is meant to encourage private sector research and innovation, especially in deep-tech and high-impact projects. For prelims, the directly testable points are the corpus size, the Foundation's custodian role, the financing route, and the Technology Readiness Level 4+ focus; for mains, it links to private research investment and deep-tech capacity.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced the fund. Its financing route is important: capital will not be invested directly in projects, but will be channelled through Alternative Investment Funds, Development Finance Institutions, and Non-Banking Financial Companies. The Anusandhan National Research Foundation will act as custodian of the corpus. This shows an emphasis on a financing mechanism that can support private research with longer-term capital.

The fund targets Technology Readiness Level 4+ projects, meaning projects at the translation and scaling stage. It may also provide longer tenor and potentially unsecured financing. For prelims, the key recall areas are the corpus size, the approving institution, the announcing minister, the financing route, and the Technology Readiness Level 4+ focus. For mains, the relevance lies in innovation financing, private sector participation in research, deep-tech capacity, and the design of patient capital for high-impact projects.