By IANS,
New Delhi: The central government will make an initial contribution of Rs.100 crore to set up a fund that will help promote innovation in the country, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday.
“The government will make an initial contribution of Rs.100 crore to kick-start an India Inclusive Innovation Fund,” Mukherjee said on the occasion of the release of first year report of the National Innovation Council. The report was released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The National Innovation Council, headed by Sam Pitroda, has made a proposal to set up the fund aimed to help develop innovation at the grass-root level.
“Venture capital does not get attracted to solving the problems of the bottom half of the population and the government is committed to give them their due opportunity,” Mukherjee said.
The finance minister urged investors to participate in the fund and help develop low-cost innovation in the country.
Mukherjee said the government has allocated Rs.1,200 crore for a “National Knowledge Network” to connect all major knowledge institutions so that interdisciplinary conversations could begin between faculty and students.
The finance minister said the network has already connected over 404 institutions and another 600 were likely to be connected soon.