Dr. (Mrs.) Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of PSA to the Government of India chaired the first “State Governments Nodal Officers Meeting” for the I-STEM Portal on 21st September 2026. The meeting focused on strengthening the participation of State Governments in the I-STEM ecosystem and facilitating the onboarding and effective utilisation of publicly funded scientific infrastructure across States.

I-STEM is transforming India’s scientific landscape by turning isolated resources into a shared national asset. Conceived by the Office of the PSA and launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in January 2020, the platform now boasts over 65,000 registered users accessing 31,000+ instruments across nearly 4,000 institutions.

I-STEM supercharges the research and innovation ecosystem by maximizing equipment utilization, slashing redundant investments, and democratizing access to elite facilities. To ensure optimal use of public funds, it is now mandatory to list all government-funded equipment costing over Rs. 20 lakh on the platform.

Representatives from the Office of the PSA and I-STEM met with State Government Nodal Officers from 23 States and 4 UTs to discuss linking state-level universities, research institutions, and R&D facilities with the national I-STEM platform. The session featured a comprehensive platform orientation, an executive overview, and an interactive discussion to establish integration mechanisms.

In her keynote address, Dr. Maini highlighted the need to ensure that India’s investments in scientific and R&D infrastructure are discoverable, accessible and optimally utilised. She emphasised the role of Nodal Officers in facilitating institutional onboarding, equipment listing, wider access and effective utilisation of facilities, while addressing practical issues related to coordination and implementation.

She also highlighted the importance of initiatives such as One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) in enabling wider access to high-quality scholarly resources and strengthening the research ecosystem. She further underscored that the larger objective should be to ensure that scientific infrastructure and knowledge resources created through public investment are accessible to the wider R&D and innovation ecosystem and deliver greater value to the country.

Dr. Vishal Choudhary, Scientist ‘F’, Office of PSA, provided an overview of the I-STEM Portal, while Dr. Harilal Bhaskar, COO/National Coordinator, I-STEM, conducted the detailed orientation on the platform and its functionalities. The orientation covered the process of onboarding institutions, listing scientific equipment and enabling wider access to publicly funded R&D infrastructure.

The meeting also highlighted the importance of I-STEM for State universities, colleges, technical institutions and emerging innovation ecosystems, particularly where access to specialised scientific infrastructure may be limited. It was also emphasized that all other existing similar portals (like ANALYTICS portal of CSIR) are being integrated with I-STEM through API linkages.

The meeting concluded with an emphasis on strengthening coordination between State-level R&D infrastructure and the national science, technology and innovation ecosystem. The State Government Nodal Officers were encouraged to facilitate wider adoption of I-STEM within their respective States and address practical issues relating to institutional onboarding, equipment listing, access, utilisation and coordination.