The Federal Government has proposed Rs. 5.5 billion for the Science & Technology Sector under the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for the financial year 2023-24.
According to the PSDP document, the federal government has proposed Rs. 5,025 million for 31 ongoing schemes of Science and Technology, Rs. 449 million for 8 new schemes, and Rs. 25 million for two unapproved Science and Technology Division schemes under PSDP for the next financial year.
According to the PSDP document, the Federal Government has proposed Rs. 150 million for the SME Certification Incentive Program whereas it has proposed 14.8 million for Cloud Enabled Infrastructure. An amount of Rs. 190 million has been suggested for the Competitive Research Program and Rs. 300 million for the Medical and Industrial Cannabis project.
Moreover, Rs. 40 million has been proposed for the Data Repository of Scientific Instrumentation, and Rs. 463 million for the Production of Biochemicals and Bioproducts.
The government has proposed Rs. 200 million for the Digital Transformation and Automation of PCSIR whereas it has proposed Rs. 300 million for the development of the Material Resource Centre and Reverse Engineering Centre at PCSIR. An amount of Rs. 150 million has been proposed for the establishment of the Failure Analysis Centre.
Separately, an amount of Rs. 217 million has been suggested for the Research and Development of Indigenous Electromedical Devices at NUST, Rs. 30 million proposed for the establishment of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Health Science, and Rs. 350 million for the establishment of Centre for International Peace and Stability at NUST.
An amount of Rs. 290.8 million has been proposed for the Establishment of Facilities for the Industrial Production of Nanomaterials and Rs. 52.9 million has been proposed for the Establishment of Pak Korea Testing Facility for PV Modules, Rs. 50 million for the Establishment of a Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Cell at MoST, and Rs. 27 million for Financial Support of Scientific Societies in Pakistan.
The government has proposed Rs. 430 million for Gene Editing of Biological Agents for Nutritional Biochemical and Therapeutical Purposes and it has proposed Rs. 200 million for the launching of STEM projects in Pakistan.
Besides the above, a budget has been proposed for the Medical Equipment & Devices Innovation Centre, Monitoring of Sear Water, National Digital Archive of Research Published in Pakistan, Science Talent Farming Scheme, Semiconductor Chip Design Facilitation Centre, Strengthening of Oceanographic Research and other projects.
