India, March 11 -- The relentless rise of technologies pervades every aspect of human life today, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is its enforcer. From manufacturing to services, from nano-materials to space travel, from new chemistry to biotechnology, the pace of this rise is frenetic. There are two extreme ways - and a few in between - for countries to address this rise. The first is to be a passive user and play with markets, services, and exports of natural resources, including human talent. The second is to become a truly competitive player in this changing world, and to tilt the use of science and technology for our social and economic benefit. Budget allocations can help in pointing out the direction. On the one hand, the 2026-2027 budget and the Economic Survey 2025-26 have collectively signalled a fundamental reorientation of national strategy, moving away from technology adoption alone. The fiscal framework for 2026-27 has tried to address this by concentrating resources in frontier domains such as semiconductors, AI, biotechnology, and space exploration, while addressing some bottlenecks that have impeded the translation of laboratory research into market-ready products. On the other hand, effective change requires many other challenges that need to be overcome. A pillar of the strategy as articulated, is the State driving entrepreneurship. The government has assumed the role of a "monetary shareholder" and a catalyst for high-risk innovation. This is most evident in the operationalisation of the Rs.1 lakh crore Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) scheme and the launch of Biopharma SHAKTI, where the State provides long-term patient capital to bridge the gap between academic discovery and industrial commercialisation. For 2026-27, the department of science and technology (DST) has been allocated about Rs.28,000 crore, a significant portion of which is dedicated to the new RDI funding mechanisms and mega-science facilities. The 2026-27 budget marks the full operationalisation of the Rs.1 lakh crore RDI scheme. For the current fiscal year, Rs.20,000 crore has been specifically earmarked within the DST budget to provide long-term, low-interest funding for private-sector-led innovation. This intervention is designed to correct a persistent "market failure" in the Indian ecosystem - the historic risk-aversion of the private sector, which has traditionally preferred technology licensing or imports over original research. The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) is aimed as the solution to what the Economic Survey has identified as the "binding constraint" of innovation - the building of State capacity. The ANRF has got off to a creditable start. It aims to expand the footprint of quality research while strengthening current efforts. If this meets with success, it will further develop and strengthen fundamental research as well as stimulate technologies. Interestingly, the budget provides a major boost to planetary sciences and astronomy, recognising these fields as critical for both human knowledge and technological spin-offs. The government has announced the establishment or major upgrading of four telescope infrastructure facilities: the National Large Solar Telescope (NLST), a facility dedicated to solar research and monitoring space weather, which is increasingly vital for satellite safety; the National Large Optical-Infrared Telescope (NLOIT), designed to expand observational capabilities into deep space; the Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT); and the COSMOS 2 Planetarium, an immersive educational project aimed at fostering astrophysics interest among the youth, which is now being developed in Mysuru but will have clones elsewhere too. This is a substantial investment in what many would view as an esoteric fundamental research area. But, this is welcome. A notable shift in the 2026-27 budget is the reduction in the allocation for the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), which has been slashed to a nominal Rs.0.01 crore from a revised estimate of Rs.535 crore in the previous year. This suggests a pivot away from the procurement of traditional high-performance computing hardware toward more frontier-oriented initiatives. Conversely, the National Quantum Mission (NQM) saw its funding increased by 50% to Rs.900 crore, reflecting a commitment to achieving a leap in secure communications and next-generation computing. Biotechnology is identified as one of the seven "strategic and frontier sectors" prioritised for rapid scale-up. The primary vehicle for this growth is the newly launched Biopharma Strategy for Healthcare Advancement through Knowledge, Technology and Innovation (SHAKTI) mission. This aims to transform India into a global hub for biopharmaceutical manufacturing, specifically targeting the domestic production of biologics and biosimilars. The scheme will establish three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs) and upgrade seven existing ones to strengthen the industry-academic link. A nationwide network of over 1,000 accredited clinical trial sites will be created to accelerate drug development timelines and enhance the credibility of Indian research. The budget provides for the strengthening of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) with a dedicated cadre of scientific reviewers and specialists to meet global standards. If the unshackling of clinical research and trials takes place, it will have an extraordinary all-round impact. The ministry of electronics and information technology is the primary driver of India's high-tech manufacturing ambitions. The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0 has been launched with a massive projected outlay of Rs.40,000 crore for electronics manufacturing. The goal is to move beyond simple assembly to the design of full-stack Indian IP and the fortification of domestic supply chains. The budget has its intrinsic limitations: There is only so much to go around, and there are many demands. More money for science must come from industry investment, too. Within our current resources, two more changes are needed. First, make doing science easy. Our best national labs and universities are weighed down by processes and regulations. We should measure and demand outcomes and impact, not just how each rupee is spent. Second, our scientists also need to scale our ambitions. For this our labs, universities and industry must collaborate, get out of their silos, and take risks. If this can happen, the promises of this budget can be realised....