New Delhi: The government on Wednesday approved a bill to set up the National Research Foundation, a new funding agency to bolster the country's research competence, Union minister Anurag Thakur said.
He said the National Research Foundation Bill will be brought in Parliament and the Science and Engineering Research Board Act, 2008 will be repealed. At a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to introduce the National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill, 2023, Thakur told reporters here.
The NRF will be governed by a governing board consisting of 15 to 25 eminent researchers and professionals. The governing board will be headed by the prime minister, he noted.
The Cabinet also approved a new scheme PM-PRANAM to incentivise states to promote alternative fertilisers and reduce the use of chemical fertilisers. The scheme PM-PRANAM (PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Generation, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth) was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 as part of the Budget for 2023-24.
"Under the scheme, the Centre will incentivise states, which will promote alternative fertilisers and reduce chemical fertilisers," Fertiliser Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told reporters after the cabinet meeting. Citing example, suppose a state is using 10 lakh tonne of conventional fertiliser, and if it reduces its consumption by 3 lakh tonne, then the subsidy saving would be Rs 3,000 crore. Out of that subsidy savings, the Centre will give 50 per cent of it -- Rs 1,500 crore to the state for promoting the use of alternative fertiliser and other development works, he added. (With Agency Inputs)
