Part 1 of 3
Science & Technology in India
Last reviewed 30 Sept 2026 · Facts as of 30 Sept 2026 · 10 min read
Institutions
| Institution | Note |
|---|---|
| Department of Science and Technology (DST) | nodal department (1971); Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB); National Science and Technology Management Information System; INSPIRE scholarships; National Science Day — 28 February (Raman Effect, 1928) |
| Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) | 1942; a chain of 37+ laboratories (NPL Delhi, NCL Pune, CDRI Lucknow, CECRI Karaikudi, CFTRI Mysuru, NGRI Hyderabad, CBRI Roorkee); the National Physical Laboratory keeps the standard of time and measures |
| Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) | 1911 (as the Indian Research Fund Association); the apex body for biomedical research; National Institute of Virology, Pune |
| Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) | 1929; IARI (Pusa, Delhi), IVRI (Izatnagar), CIFT (Kochi) |
| Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) | 1954 / 1948 (Homi J. Bhabha the first chairman); BARC (Trombay), IGCAR (Kalpakkam), RRCAT (Indore), NPCIL (nuclear power) |
| ISRO / Department of Space | see the Space Programme note |
| DRDO | see the Defence Technology note |
| Department of Biotechnology (DBT) | 1986; BIRAC; the National Biotechnology Development Strategy |
| Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) | NIC, CERT-In (cyber security), C-DAC (the PARAM supercomputers), Digital India (2015), India Semiconductor Mission (2021), IndiaAI Mission (2024) |
| Indian Institute of Science (IISc), IITs, IISERs, TIFR (Mumbai, 1945), Raman Research Institute, Bose Institute (Kolkata, 1917, founded by J. C. Bose), Indian Statistical Institute (P. C. Mahalanobis) | |
| Survey of India (1767), Geological Survey of India (1851), India Meteorological Department (IMD) (1875), National Centre for Seismology, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology | |
| National Innovation Foundation, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) (NITI Aayog), Startup India, Anusandhan National Research Foundation (2023) | |
| Vigyan Prasar, Indian Science Congress (annual, 3 January; started in 1914) |
Scientists and their contributions
| Scientist | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Aryabhata (476 CE) | Aryabhatiya; the value of pi; the Earth rotates on its axis; the first Indian satellite (1975) is named after him |
| Brahmagupta, Bhaskara | zero, algebra; Lilavati |
| Sushruta, Charaka | ancient surgery (Sushruta Samhita), medicine (Charaka Samhita) |
| Srinivasa Ramanujan | mathematician; number theory; the Hardy–Ramanujan number 1729; National Mathematics Day — 22 December |
| Jagadish Chandra Bose | plant physiology (the crescograph), radio waves and microwave optics; the Bose Institute |
| C. V. Raman | Raman Effect (1928); Nobel Prize in Physics 1930 (the first Asian in science) |
| Meghnad Saha | the Saha ionisation equation (astrophysics) |
| S. N. Bose | Bose–Einstein statistics; the particle boson is named after him |
| Homi Jehangir Bhabha | the father of India's nuclear programme (three-stage nuclear power programme); TIFR; AEC; a first chairman |
| Vikram Sarabhai | the father of the Indian space programme; the Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmedabad) and ISRO |
| Satish Dhawan | rocket scientist; ISRO chairman; the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (Sriharikota) |
| A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | the "Missile Man of India"; SLV-III (Rohini satellite), Agni and Prithvi; the 11th President (2002–07) |
| Harish-Chandra, S. Chandrasekhar | mathematics; Chandrasekhar limit (1.4 solar masses — white dwarf stars; Nobel Prize 1983) |
| Har Gobind Khorana | Nobel Prize in Medicine 1968 (the genetic code) |
| Venkatraman Ramakrishnan | Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 (the ribosome's structure) |
| Amartya Sen | Nobel Prize in Economics 1998; welfare economics |
| Abhijit Banerjee | Nobel Prize in Economics 2019 (with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer; experimental approach to reducing poverty) |
| Kailash Satyarthi | Nobel Peace Prize 2014 (child rights) |
| Rabindranath Tagore | Nobel Prize in Literature 1913 (Gitanjali; the first non-European) |
| Mother Teresa | Nobel Peace Prize 1979 |
| Verghese Kurien | White Revolution |
| M. S. Swaminathan | Green Revolution; the first World Food Prize (1987) |
| Salim Ali | the "Birdman of India" |
| Birbal Sahni | palaeobotanist; the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (Lucknow) |
| Kalpana Chawla | the first woman of Indian origin in space (1997; she died in the Columbia disaster 2003) |
| Rakesh Sharma | the first Indian in space (1984, aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11); Shubhanshu Shukla flew to the International Space Station in 2025 (Axiom-4) |
| Tessy Thomas | the "Missile Woman of India" |
| Jayant Narlikar | astrophysicist; IUCAA (Pune) |
| P. C. Ray | the "father of Indian chemistry" (a Bengal Chemicals founder) |
| Sam Pitroda | C-DOT, the telecom revolution |
| Vijay Bhatkar | the PARAM supercomputer |
(Nobel laureates of Indian origin or association: Tagore (1913), C. V. Raman (1930), H. G. Khorana (1968), Mother Teresa (1979), S. Chandrasekhar (1983), Amartya Sen (1998), V. S. Naipaul (2001 Literature), Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (2009), Kailash Satyarthi (2014), Abhijit Banerjee (2019).)