Corpus of Rs 1 lakh cr to scale up research in sunrise domains: FM

New Delhi: A corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore will be established with 50-year interest free loans to encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation in sunrise domains, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Thursday.

Presenting the interim Budget 2024-25, Sitharaman said this will be a golden era for India's tech savvy youth.

"A corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore will be established with 50-year interest free loan. The corpus will provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenures and low or nil interest rates," the minister said.

"This will encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation significantly in sunrise domains. We need to have programmes that combine the powers of our youth and technology," she added.