The Autonomous Institutes (AI) Division under the Department of Science and Technology has been entrusted with the responsibility of looking after the administration of the 26 Autonomous Institutes (16 R&D Institutes, 05 Service Organizations and 05 Professional Bodies/Science Academies) under the Department.

The Autonomous Institutes (AIs) administered by DST were established under the Societies Registration Act, Indian Trust Act or by enactment of Act by Parliament. These institutions, with long and cherished history and their varied activities, occupy an important place in the S&T eco-system of the country. Most of them were established prior to coming to existence of DST. A number of them even date back prior to Independence. Some of the Autonomous Bodies were set up whenever it was felt that specific functions need to be discharged outside the governmental set up with some amount of independence and flexibility without day-to-day interference of the Governmental machinery. Some of them were taken over from State Governments.

These Autonomous Institutes are largely dependent on Grants-in-Aid from Government of India.   They are a major stakeholder in the DST’s functioning as they are engaged in diverse activities, ranging from formulating frameworks for policies, conducting research in scientific streams and technologies.

A brief background about the 26 Autonomous Institutes are appended below.

• The 16 research institutions in the DST family form a very special group from several points of view. Some of these are among the oldest research institutions in the country started by eminent scientists and individuals like Mahendra Lal Sircar, CV Raman, JC Bose, Birbal Sahni and DN Wadia etc. Some of these Institutions are repositories of very old and valuable scientific data and lead the nation in niche areas like astronomy and astrophysics, geomagnetism, advanced materials and nano science and technology – and so on. The institutions are basic research institutions with the exception of SCTIMST-Trivandrum and ARCI-Hyderabad. SCTIMST-Trivandrum is the national torchbearer in the field of indigenous biomedical device development which has helped to lower the cost of healthcare in the country. In the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, SCTIMST has evolved a fast track method to come out with many products, some of which have already been commercialized and started getting used for the management of Covid-19 pandemic. ARCI-Hyderabad has carved a very special place for itself as a premier technology development and transfer organization in the area of advanced materials. These Research Institutions have an impressive portfolio of research publications and awards and honours earned by their scientists and their produce.
• The 4 specialized knowledge institutions and S&T service organizations – TIFAC, NECTAR, VP and NIF – are unique in their own ways. TIFAC approaches technology forecasting in different sectors in a very structured fashion involving all stakeholders and has also promoted new instruments of technology development and diffusion across the country. The Technology Vision document of 2035 by TIFAC is one of its significant achievements. NECTAR is unique in sourcing technologies for finding solutions to problems specific to the North Eastern States and Vigyan Prasar innovates on instruments of science communication and popularization. The India Science Channel of Vigyan Prasar is famous for its regular telecasting of scientific stories and episodes. NIF is a unique body which scouts for grassroots innovations and helps develop them further into viable, technology-backed products or processes. As on date NIF has acquired rights of seventy eight technologies of fifty eight innovators from fourteen states.
• All the 5 premier science and engineering professional bodies of the country, viz. INSA-Delhi, IAS-Bangalore, NASI-Allahabad, INAE-Delhi and ISCA-Kolkata belong to the DST family. Most of these are again very old organizations established by eminent scientists and individuals, including the Indian Science Congress Association which is more than a century old. These professional bodies, through their multifarious activities, deliberate on policy issues of national importance related to S&T and help in dissemination of scientific knowledge through journals, meetings, conferences, national and international scientist-exchange programmes. In recent times, they have become important vehicles for special human resource development programmes focused on young students and science teachers in the country.

The list of Institutions along with their activities is given below:

Films on Different Autonomous Institutions of DST