New Delhi: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India on Wednesday signed an MoU to strengthen India's research and development ecosystem through industry-academia partnerships, innovation challenges and global collaboration.

The agreement was signed at Kartavya Bhavan 3.

Puneet Dalmia, Vice President, FICCI and Managing Director & CEO, Dalmia Bharat Group, said, "This MoU marks a significant step towards change in mindset from academia to application; silos to systems; incremental to transformation… We look forward to working closely with the PSA Office to translate this shared vision into meaningful, on-ground outcomes."

Highlighting gaps, the statement noted India's Gross Expenditure on R&D remains around 0.6-0.7 per cent of GDP, lower than South Korea (5.21 per cent), the United States (3.59 per cent) and China (2.56 per cent). Private sector contribution stands at about 36 per cent, compared to over 70 per cent in these countries.

Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, said, "Industry and academia must collaborate far more deeply… A problem well-defined is a problem half-solved… this MoU lays the institutional foundation for purposeful, long-term engagement."

The partnership covers five areas, including industry-academia collaboration, problem identification, global partnerships, policy support and capacity building, with a joint coordination mechanism and six-monthly reviews planned.

Anant Swarup, Secretary General, FICCI, said, "This MoU… marks the beginning of a purposeful partnership… to create structured platforms, design outcome-oriented innovation programmes and build researcher capacity."