In its proposal for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the fiscal year 2023-24, Rs. 5.5 billion to the Science and Technology Sector are allocated by the Federal Government.
For the 2019 fiscal year, the federal government has proposed spending Rs. 5,025 million on 31 existing Science and Technology Division initiatives under PSDP, Rs. 449 million on 8 new schemes, and Rs. 25 million on two unapproved schemes.
The SME Certification Incentive Programme is recommended to receive Rs. 150 million, while the Cloud Enabled Infrastructure is planned to receive Rs. 14.8 million, according to the PSDP document. The Competitive Research Programme has been proposed with a budget of 190 million, while the Medical and Industrial Cannabis project has been proposed for a budget of 300 million.
Additionally, Rs. 463 million has been recommended for the manufacturing of biochemicals and bioproducts, and Rs. 40 million has been proposed for the data repository of scientific instrumentation.
Budget has been allocated to establish science facilities
The government has proposed Rs. 300 million for the construction of the Material Resource Centre and Reverse Engineering Centre at PCSIR, and Rs. 200 million for the Digital Transformation and Automation of PCSIR. It has been proposed that Rs. 150,000,000 be allocated to found a Failure Analysis Centre.
The Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Health Science has been proposed to receive 30 million rupees, the Centre for International Peace and Stability at NUST has been proposed to receive 350 million rupees, and the Research and Development of Indigenous Electromedical Devices at NUST has been suggested to receive 217 million rupees.
Establishing facilities for industrial production of nanomaterials has been budgeted at Rs. 290.8 mln; establishing a Pak Korea testing facility for PV modules has been budgeted at Rs. 52.9 mln; establishing a Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Cell at MoST has been budgeted at Rs. 50 mln; and providing financial support to scientific societies in Pakistan has been budgeted at Rs. 27 mln.
Gene editing of biological agents for nutritional biochemical and therapeutic purposes has been recommended for Rs. 430 million, while the launch of STEM initiatives in Pakistan has been requested for Rs. 200 million.
In addition to these priorities, the government has proposed funding for initiatives like the Medical Equipment & Devices Innovation Centre, the Sear Water Monitoring Programme, the National Digital Archive of Research Published in Pakistan, the Science Talent Farming Scheme, the Semiconductor Chip Design Facilitation Centre, and the Strengthening of Oceanographic Research.
To read our article about “For IT & Telecom projects, Govt. grants Rs. 6 bn in FY 23-24” click here.
