Arjun Modhwadia, Minister for Forests & Environment, Climate Change, Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat, in an interview with ETEducation, outlines the state’s roadmap to strengthen universities, research and skilling as Gujarat builds its technology and innovation ecosystem. He discusses the state’s focus on creating a specialised talent pipeline for semiconductors, biotechnology, AI and deep tech, expanding industry-academia collaboration, commercialising university research and supporting student-led innovation. Modhwadia also explains how Gujarat’s science and technology policies are being aligned with the broader vision of Viksit Gujarat and Viksit Bharat 2047.Q. How is Gujarat’s science and technology roadmap linked to its universities and talent pipeline?
Arjun Modhwadia: Recognising technology as a core engine for future governance and economic growth, Gujarat established a dedicated Department of Science and Technology (DST) on April 1, 2003, under the leadership of then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. This early strategic vision gave the state a two-decade head start in institutional governance and ecosystem development.
Guided by the ambition to position Gujarat as a global innovation hub, the state has continuously served as a national proving ground for technological self-reliance (Aatmanirbhar Bharat). A core pillar of its roadmap is human capital: Gujarat is directly linking high-technology manufacturing ecosystems in Dholera and Sanand with state universities to build a continuous talent pipeline of VLSI design and hardware engineers. State-funded research and development is also directed toward translating academic work into commercial output, ensuring university research does not stay confined to publication.
On the biotechnology side, the state has built an academic-to-industry chain anchored by Gujarat BioTechnology University (GBU), developed in academic partnership with the University of Edinburgh, which supplies workforce-ready graduates in specialised biotechnology fields. The Gujarat Council of Science City and GUJCOST separately work to cultivate scientific thinking among youth through interactive facilities and Regional Science Centres across districts, while expanding IPR awareness and supporting local STEM projects.
Q. What are the talent and skilling targets under Gujarat’s technology policies?
Arjun Modhwadia: Under the Gujarat Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (2026–2031), backed by a ₹1,000 crore Innovation Fund, Gujarat has set a target of 100,000 highly skilled research professionals by 2031, alongside more than 1,000 annual IP filings supported through a network of over 200 IP centres.
The Gujarat Rajya Research & Innovation Clusters (GRRIC) initiative, starting in the Gandhinagar–Ahmedabad corridor, is establishing shared R&D laboratories and industry-academia hubs to scale up this talent base. Complementing this, university-integrated VLSI engineering programmes are being built to secure an uninterrupted pipeline of hardware talent for the state’s semiconductor ambitions, as part of a broader push to transition the state’s workforce into specialised micro-fabrication engineering roles.
Q. How is Gujarat building agile governance in academia to keep pace with fast-moving technology?
Arjun Modhwadia: Traditional university curriculum updates take years, and Gujarat is working to compress that cycle. The state is streamlining academic approval processes so state universities can update course modules, industry certifications and lab practices annually based on emerging technology trends.
This sits alongside dynamic, bi-annual policy checkpoints, rather than static decade-long frameworks, and quarterly advisory panels of founders, researchers and legal experts that identify regulatory bottlenecks and recommend rapid academic and policy adjustments.
Q. How are Gujarat’s universities moving from knowledge creation to commercialisation?
Arjun Modhwadia: Higher education in India has historically evaluated academic success by paper publication counts rather than commercial output. Gujarat is pushing four structural reforms to change that:
Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs): Professionally managed TTOs are being established across state universities to handle patent filings, IP valuation, licensing negotiations and spin-off creation, removing administrative barriers for academic inventors.
The GRRIC framework: Physically connects academic labs with industrial hubs, turning industry challenges directly into funded university R&D projects.
Proof-of-Concept (PoC) grants: Targeted bridge funding, alongside competitive showcases such as Robofest, supports prototype scaling, field testing and regulatory validation for student and faculty research.
Venture acceleration: Legal and institutional friction is being removed so university faculty and student researchers can launch spin-off enterprises while retaining their academic ties.
Q. What role will Gujarat’s higher education institutions play in frontier technologies such as AI, robotics, clean energy and advanced manufacturing?
Arjun Modhwadia: State institutions, including Gujarat Technological University, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, National Forensic Sciences University, Gujarat BioTechnology University and SVNIT, alongside national hubs such as IIT Gandhinagar, form the talent and R&D engine for this push.
Priorities include modernised deep-tech curricula backed by state-funded university Centres of Excellence that provide high-performance computing, prototyping labs and industry research access; industry-co-developed laboratories built jointly with industry majors so students train on current toolchains rather than outdated equipment; direct university partnerships with national entities such as IN-SPACe and ISRO for satellite payload development and space technology research; and a push for institutions to prioritise technology transfer and IP commercialisation over passive patent filing.
This is supported by incubators such as the Savli Technology & Business Incubator (STBI), which connect academic startups to seed grants and investor networks.
Q. What initiatives are building AI research and talent ecosystems for academia?
Arjun Modhwadia: Domain-specific AI Centres of Excellence are being established across top state technical universities, each focused on an applied domain such as AI in automated manufacturing, satellite-driven precision agriculture or genomic drug discovery.
To remove the compute barrier facing student researchers and startups, Gujarat is deploying state-subsidised GPU compute clusters that give local universities and innovators access to high-performance infrastructure to train and fine-tune models.
Alongside this, state universities and industry partners are running large-scale upskilling programmes, training engineers in data engineering, practical AI deployment and ethical AI governance. These efforts are backed by skill upgradation subsidies and Employment Generation Incentives under the state IT/ITeS Policy to ensure immediate industry absorption.
Q. How is Gujarat supporting deep-tech startups emerging from universities and research institutions?
Arjun Modhwadia: The Student Start-up and Innovation Policy (SSIP 2.0) intervenes directly at the university level, providing seed grants, prototyping funds and complete IP filing support to student innovators, creating an institutional pipeline of deep-tech ventures.
Startups also get direct access to state research infrastructure, including advanced genomic sequencing at GBRC, hardware prototyping at iCreate and space payload testing facilities linked with IN-SPACe, alongside fund-of-funds structures that match private venture capital to sustain ventures through extended R&D phases.
Q. What opportunities does Gujarat offer for international academic collaboration, and what does that mean for graduate employment?
Arjun Modhwadia: The Gujarat GCC Policy (2025–30), which incentivises multinational corporations to set up R&D hubs and advanced engineering centres in the state, explicitly requires these Global Capability Centres to build local university research partnerships and internship programmes, creating a direct employment and placement pipeline for students.
Institutional international tie-ups add to this. Joint research and academic partnerships between global universities and Gujarat institutions, with Gujarat Biotechnology University’s partnership with the University of Edinburgh as a key benchmark, deliver international academic standards and joint research exposure.
Collaborative innovation hubs, including those in GIFT City, connect international corporate R&D units directly with local university research labs for joint IP generation, further widening the employment and internship funnel for graduates and researchers.
Q. What is your message to university leaders, researchers and young entrepreneurs who will drive Viksit Gujarat and Viksit Bharat?
Arjun Modhwadia: To university leaders: eliminate administrative passivity. Transform campuses into active hubs of commercial discovery, hold faculty to global research standards and measure success by patents filed, spin-offs launched and industry problems solved.
To academic researchers: focus intellect on solving foundational, high-impact national and environmental challenges, and strive for breakthroughs that generate sovereign intellectual property.
To young innovators and founders: embrace calculated risks, move beyond superficial software applications and tackle hard, complex deep-tech challenges across AI, semiconductor hardware, biotechnology, space and climate tech.
The Government of Gujarat stands ready to back this vision with world-class infrastructure, targeted capital and stable policy support.
