SRINAGAR: The Government of India has told the Lok Sabha that the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research, known nationwide as the INSPIRE scheme, continues to operate as the country’s most extensive pipeline for identifying and nurturing scientific talent from school to post-doctoral research. The Ministry of Science and Technology said the scheme is designed to attract young people to basic and natural sciences, support them through scholarships and fellowships, and encourage original ideas that address societal needs through science and technology.
The ministry explained that INSPIRE functions across multiple stages, beginning with INSPIRE-MANAK, which targets schoolchildren between the ages of 10 and 17. All recognised schools with classes six to twelve are eligible to nominate five students each year through an online portal. Students submit their basic details, bank account information and a short synopsis of their idea. Selected students receive Rs 10,000 to develop a project or model and to participate in exhibitions at the district, state and national levels. According to the government, the entire process operates through direct benefit transfer. The Ministry noted that the redesign of INSPIRE now seeks one million original ideas every financial year from schools across the country, with shortlisted students subsequently receiving mentoring at institutions such as IITs, NITs, IISERs and Central Universities in collaboration with the National Innovation Foundation.
Beyond schools, the government said INSPIRE Internship exposes fifty thousand top one per cent performers in Class X board examinations to five-day science camps featuring interactions with Indian and international scientists, including Nobel laureates. The intention is to spark curiosity and prompt more students in the 16–17 age group to opt for science during higher secondary studies.
Students who choose to continue are supported at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels through the Scholarship for Higher Education component, which offers 12,000 annual scholarships, each valued at Rs 0.80 lakh per year, for studies in basic and natural sciences. The scheme is intended to strengthen the country’s long-term research and development capacity by ensuring that talented youth remain attached to scientific disciplines.
Research-focused support continues under the INSPIRE Fellowship, awarded to top-rank students in basic and applied sciences, including engineering, medicine, agriculture and veterinary studies, as well as to INSPIRE scholars who achieve at least 70 per cent marks at the MSc level. Fellows pursue full-time doctoral studies for up to five years, receiving stipends equivalent to the CSIR-UGC NET fellowship—Rs 37,000 per month plus allowances as Junior Research Fellows and Rs 42,000 per month plus allowances as Senior Research Fellows.
At the highest tier, INSPIRE Faculty Fellowships provide post-doctoral researchers between the ages of 27 and 32 with a five-year faculty-level fellowship of Rs 1,25,000 per month, along with a research grant of Rs 35 lakh spread across five years. Relaxed age limits apply to women, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe applicants and persons with benchmark disabilities.
In response to questions about the scheme’s expansion and focus on societal needs, the ministry stated that INSPIRE has been revamped to prioritise original ideas that demonstrate potential for real-world application. It said students chosen at the state-level exhibition stage are receiving structured mentoring to refine prototypes, strengthen scientific methodology and prepare innovations for possible scaling. A structured ecosystem has been created to support mentoring, incubation, prototype development and industry linkage. Over the last five years, 119 mentorship workshops have been conducted, benefiting 1,823 students. Government data shows that 195 patents have been filed under INSPIRE-supported innovations, with 38 patents already granted in the names of student innovators.
On region-specific queries, the ministry informed the House that Rajasthan, including the Rajsamand Lok Sabha constituency, has seen extensive outreach. In the last five years, forty-two awareness workshops have been held across the State, including five online sessions exclusively for Rajsamand. These activities reached about 3,500 teachers and were supported by promotional material, brochures and training modules. A pilot teacher-training programme has also been introduced to improve the quality of innovations emerging from schools.
The government said these layers of scholarships, internships, mentorships and fellowships form a single continuum intended to attract students early, nurture them continuously and retain them within India’s scientific ecosystem. According to the ministry, the long-term aim of INSPIRE is to broaden the country’s research and development base and create a generation capable of converting original ideas into scalable technological solutions.
