Overview

• Over 110 state and federal representatives convened at Science City, Ahmedabad, for the fifth regional consultative meeting on Ease of Doing R&D hosted by GUJCOST and NITI Aayog.
• Participants endorsed AI-enabled procurement systems, digitised approvals and pre-approved vendor lists to streamline administrative and compliance processes.
• A centralised funding database was proposed to rationalise grant access and tackle fragmented research financing across institutions.
• Senior advisers Dr V K Saraswat and Prof Vivek Kumar Singh stressed the need for institutional benchmarking, agile regulatory frameworks and stronger academia–industry partnerships to boost competitiveness.
• With the recommendations currently advisory, government bodies must undertake formal adoption and coordinated implementation to translate proposals into operational policy reforms.