ESTIC 2026 Conclave Inauguration and Key Addresses
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on October 27, bringing together more than 5,000 global delegates including scientific leaders, policymakers, and deep-tech startups. In his inaugural address, the Prime Minister called on the scientific community, researchers, and young innovators to deliver concrete, measurable, and scalable technological outcomes within a three-year operational horizon, emphasizing that scientific breakthroughs should move beyond laboratory settings to address real-world problems and reinforce national self-reliance under the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, highlighted India's transformation from technology consumer to global co-creator of frontier scientific solutions. He revealed significant growth in India's startup ecosystem, expanding from approximately 400 startups in 2014 to more than 2.3 lakh today, with an estimated 50-60% of these startups based in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Dr. Singh identified India's genetic and phenotypic diversity as a critical resource for biotechnology and called for stronger domestic capabilities in gene synthesis, systems biology, and nuclear medicine, referencing recent legislative reforms including the SHANTI Act.
Prof. Ajay K. Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, outlined ESTIC's 12 core thematic priority domains including quantum communication, generative and autonomous artificial intelligence, semiconductor fabrication, advanced manufacturing, and the Deep Ocean Mission. He emphasized the need for closer alignment between basic scientific research, industrial scale-up, and regulatory policy to develop sovereign national capabilities.
Nobel Laureate Presentations and Technical Sessions
Nobel Laureate Prof. Joachim Frank of Columbia University (2017 Chemistry Nobel) delivered a plenary talk on cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) in target discovery and drug design, covering computational and mathematical frameworks used in high-resolution, single-particle Cryo-EM and three-dimensional visualization of macromolecular complexes. Sir Richard J. Roberts (1993 Physiology or Medicine Nobel) delivered a separate plenary on split genes and frontiers in life sciences, covering fundamental mechanisms of gene splicing, microbial genomics, and restriction-modification enzymes, with applications in sustainable agriculture, public health, and diagnostics.
Three parallel technical sessions were conducted: The Advanced Manufacturing session chaired by Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, Director General of CSIR, focused on implementing digital twins, collaborative robots, additive manufacturing, and metrology, with keynote address by Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, former Chairman of DRDO. The Generative and Autonomous AI session chaired by Shri Saurabh Vijay, CEO of IndiaAI, addressed development of homegrown large language models, access to high-performance computing, agentic artificial intelligence, and frameworks for safe deployment, with participation from Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary of MeitY. The System and Synthetic Biology session focused on engineered biological systems and the BioE3 national strategy, identifying precision biotherapeutics, metabolic pathway design, biofortified crops, and waste-to-value biomanufacturing as application areas.
Funding Mechanisms and Strategic Objectives
The conclave identified the ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund and ANRF mechanisms as avenues for advancing deep-tech development through technology-readiness stages toward commercialized products. An evening panel discussion on "Science and Disruptive Technologies for Atmanirbhar Bharat" chaired by Prof. Ajay K. Sood addressed defence technological sovereignty, commercialization of intellectual property, deep-tech funding, and technology transfer mechanisms across sectors. The conclave's stated purpose is to strengthen connections between research, industry, and policy to enable science and technology to contribute to national development and global human welfare.