Member, NITI Aayog, Govt. of India

Shaping India’s National Science &
Innovation Policy

Contributing to India’s development as Member, NITI Aayog, through evidence-based policymaking.

How ₹1 Lakh Cr RDI Scheme Will Power AI, Clean Energy, Deep Tech & Biotech In India | Govt's New R&D Fund To Back Startups & Corporates In Sunrise Sectors | Cabinet Clears Rs 1 Lakh Crore Corpus To Spur Private Invst In R&D | New Scheme To Boost R&D | Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary of DST, के साथ ख़ास मुलाकात | Tapas Bhattacharya, DD News | India's first semiconductor chip for D2M heralds leapfrog to next generation broadcasting

Welcome to my personal website

I serve as Member, NITI Aayog, on the Policy Board of the Government of India, contributing to India’s development through science, technology, innovation, and evidence-based policymaking.

My work spans national missions and funding frameworks I have steered in government, innovation ecosystems I built at IIT Kanpur, and global telecom standards rooted in three decades of research at IIT Bombay.

Read about my journey

Former: Secretary, DST (2023 - 2026) Director, IIT Kanpur (2018 - 2023)

I operationalized these at national scale during my tenure as Secretary, Department of Science and Technology.

Policy & Governance

As DST Secretary, I operationalized the National Quantum Mission and the Anusandhan National Research Foundation.

View initiatives

Innovation Funding

I steered the ₹1 Lakh Crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund for private-sector R&D and deep-tech startups.

Policy impact

Incubation Ecosystem

As Director, IIT Kanpur, I built an incubation ecosystem of 100+ startups with a combined valuation exceeding Rs 1,000 crore.

Innovation & startups

NQM Thematic Hubs

₹1L Cr

RDI Fund Steered

100+

Startups at IIT Kanpur

Global IEEE Standards

Three lenses on how I translate that delivery into leadership today. My leadership philosophy is based on the following three pillars:

National Development
& Science Policy

I am involved in shaping India’s development agenda across Science, Research, Emerging Technologies, and Inclusive Growth — applying evidence-based policymaking from the highest Planning Institution.

Scalable Innovation
& Emerging Technologies

I champion sovereign AI through BharatGen, clean energy, green hydrogen, geospatial technologies, and advanced materials — working toward technological self-reliance and an inclusive innovation ecosystem.

Research Foundations
& Global Standards

At IIT Bombay, I led a research group shaping international standards including IEEE 1930.1 (SDN middleware), IEEE 2061 (frugal 5G), and ITU-T Y.2325 (6G control plane) — with patents and PhD graduates advancing these ideas globally.

What drives my leadership

My conviction is simple: Rigorous Research and National Institutions must Advance together — from Research Centers to the Country’s highest Science and Planning Offices.

Programs and missions behind my work.