Govt's I-STEM to revolutionise R&D: Startups, researchers to access high-end lab equipment on rent

Indian startups, industry, researchers, and academicians may soon be able to utilise the scientific equipment housed in various public research institutions on a payment basis.

An online platform, I-STEM (Indian Science, Technology, and Engineering Facilities Map), funded by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India, will facilitate this service. Once academic institutions register their scientific equipment on I-STEM, it will be available for rent by start-ups, industry, entrepreneurs, and researchers, thereby connecting them with a vast network of labs and equipment across diverse sectors. Over ₹1,500 crore worth of lab equipment in scientific and educational institutions across India is already listed on the I-STEM portal, says Harilal Bhaskar, Chief Operating Officer and National Coordinator, I-STEM.

According to data available with I-STEM, institutions across 167 out of 192 districts have been onboarded onto the I-STEM portal. However, many fail to respond to researchers seeking access to scientific equipment. Additionally, they face various challenges in supporting researchers, which hinders R&D progress, impacts India’s Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking, and slows down innovation in start-ups and industries. Only 1.1% of the 26,737 registered equipment pieces are frequently used, I-STEM data reveals.

To unlock the full potential of the platform, I-STEM is set to launch a ‘One District, One Equipment’ initiative on February 28 to ensure that every district in the country has access to scientific equipment. If successful, this initiative could save researchers, industry, and start-ups the prohibitive capital expenditure of purchasing advanced equipment. At the national level, this would prevent the duplication of scarce resources in research institutions.

“I-STEM proposes that academic institutions across the country be mandated to allocate at least 30% of their total lab time for external users, including start-ups, industries, and rural innovators. I-STEM can facilitate this initiative through its portal, which both industry and academic institutions can use. We also propose linking compliance with this proposal to rankings and funding eligibility,” Bhaskar said. “Equipment gathering dust in labs is not just wasted funds but a waste of potential innovation and research that could fuel the nation’s growth,” he added.

The I-STEM initiative can foster collaborations with private and state government-funded labs across various scientific domains, including biotechnology, immunology, material science, nanotechnology, and more. It holds a database of publicly funded, functioning R&D equipment and facilities in various public and private institutions in India.