New Delhi: From opening up the space sector for private players, landing near the lunar south pole, improving weather forecasting systems and advancing biosciences, the Union Science and Technology Ministry on 15 June also celebrated 12 years of work in the field of science and technology.
“Today, almost every major flagship programme of the government is powered by technologies emerging from India’s science and technology ecosystem, reflecting the success of an integrated, whole-of-government approach,” said Union Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh in a press conference.
He added that the government’s emphasis on “innovation, global competitiveness, industry participation and private-sector engagement has accelerated scientific outcomes across sectors ranging from healthcare and agriculture to space, weather sciences, infrastructure and energy.”
ThePrint gives a glimpse into the most significant work done across the scientific sectors and analyses how effectively they have been implemented.
Forecasting systems
According to the ministry, India’s weather forecasting radars went up from 17 to nearly 50 in the last 12 years. With another 50 planned under the government’s Mission Mausam project, which aims to improve the accuracy of weather forecasting systems.
“The country has also expanded lightning detection systems, forecasting networks and rain-monitoring infrastructure on an unprecedented scale,” the government statement said.
The weather forecasting coverage has expanded from around 300 cities to nearly 1,700 locations. Modern services such as Nowcast also provide weather updates every three hours, including highly localised short-term forecasts that help citizens, farmers, and disaster-management agencies make informed decisions.
However, despite improved technology, weather forecasting and early warning systems remain a challenge for India. Uttarkashi’s Dharali felt the impact of last year’s flood, and again during the 2024 landslide in Kerala’s Wayanad, when forecasting services failed to accurately predict the arrival and scale of the disasters, leading to massive loss.
“Forecasting weather with 100 per cent accuracy is difficult in a country like India, where there are many factors at play. We have advanced our systems, and we will continue to do so to make them better,” M Mohapatra, director general of meteorology at the India Meteorological Department, told ThePrint.
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Space
The union minister said that the space sector continues to witness unprecedented growth in the last decade, with over 400 Indian space startups now thriving. The now $8 billion space economy is projected to reach $45 billion in the next decade.
The government’s Space Policy, which opened the doors for private players in the Indian space sector and encouraged private investments, has gained wide popularity.
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) success with big-ticket missions, including the Chandrayaan-3 moon landing and Aditya-L1, India’s first mission to study the sun, has kept India ahead in the global space race. The space agency is also now focused on building an Indian space station—the Bharatiya Antariksh Station—by 2030, and is also aiming to put an Indian on the Moon by 2040.
In the last year, however, ISRO’s stellar track record has faced a bit of a setback.
Between 2025 and 2026, India suffered losses in three strategic satellite missions. In January this year, ISRO failed to place its strategic satellite EOS-N1, also known as “Anvesha”, in its intended orbit.
Before this, in May last year, India’s EOS-09 satellite (RISAT-1B) also failed to reach its intended orbit. The failure of NVS-02–the second-generation series of NavIC satellites, in January last year, also came as a setback for the agency.
Biotechnology
Biotechnology, biomanufacturing and healthcare research have become a primary focus of the government over the years.
According to the science minister, the country’s bioeconomy has grown from nearly $10 billion in 2014 to over $190 billion in 2026, with a target of reaching $300 billion by 2030.
“India has emerged as a global biotechnology hub through indigenous innovations in healthcare, genomics, diagnostics and biopharmaceuticals, supported by progressive policies such as the BioE3 framework,” Singh said.
He said that India has also strengthened its position in advanced healthcare technologies through breakthroughs in areas such as next-generation antibiotics, affordable CAR-T cell therapy, genomics and precision medicine.
“The country is increasingly developing solutions not only for domestic health challenges but also for diseases and disorders of global significance,” he added.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)