Pariksha Saathi₹1 Lakh Crore RDI Fund Names Its First 19 Second Level Fund Managers, Commits ₹7,131 Crore
The Research, Development and Innovation Fund (RDIF), the government's ₹1 lakh crore programme to finance private-sector R&D, has picked its first batch of 19 Second Level Fund Managers (SLFMs), the intermediaries that will actually invest the money. The selection was cleared on 8 October 2026 by the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) and announced on 12 October. It consists of 14 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and 5 Focused Research Organisations (FROs), to which RDIF has committed a total of ₹7,131 crore. These managers will invest in Eligible Technology Enterprises working on technologies at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 or higher, and are expected to bring in private capital equal to the amount they receive from RDIF. The fund is run by an Independent Business Unit within the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) under the Department of Science and Technology. Applications were invited in January 2026 and screened by an expert committee, the ANRF Executive Council and then the EGoS. The scheme itself was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2025 to supply long-term, risk-tolerant capital for high-impact research. The EGoS also added five more technologies to the fund's coverage, and further cohorts of fund managers are planned.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) was set up under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act, 2023 to provide strategic direction for research and innovation in India. The Act repealed the Science and Engineering Research Board Act, 2008, and the earlier Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) was subsumed into ANRF. The Prime Minister is the ex-officio President of ANRF's Governing Board.
Reference: Anusandhan National Research Foundation's official portal
Check yourself: the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale used in this news runs from 1 to what, and does TRL 4 mean a product is ready for the market?
The scale runs from 1 to 9. TRL 4 means a technology has been validated at laboratory level; it is well past basic research but still far from a market-ready system, which is near TRL 9.
Revision task: write down the chain through which RDIF money reaches companies — RDIF, then Second Level Fund Managers (AIFs and FROs), then Eligible Technology Enterprises — and note which body approved the first cohort.
Test yourself
The ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund (RDIF) has named its first 19 Second Level Fund Managers. Which body runs the fund through an Independent Business Unit?
Show the answer
Answer: Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF)
RDIF is run by an Independent Business Unit within ANRF under the Department of Science and Technology; the first 19 managers (14 AIFs and 5 Focused Research Organisations) have ₹7,131 crore committed, and PM Modi launched the scheme in November 2025.
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