Mission for Advancement in High-impact Areas (MAHA) Scheme

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Mission for Advancement in High-impact Areas (MAHA) Scheme

News:

Anusandhan National Research Foundation" (ANRF) launches ₹200-crore MAHA Water Mission to support Startups.

ANRF had identified the "MAHA Water Program" in collaboration with the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), GoI to accelerate innovation, design, develop, and promote high-priority adaptable solutions related to water problem(s) and increasing stress, which is due to demands on surface and groundwater for drinking, irrigation, industrial, and ecosystem use by involving researchers, institutions and various stakeholders.

The aim of this mission is to

1. address and combat India's water challenges, through R&D-Based Technological Solutions synergic with Policy, Governance and Entrepreneurship.
2. This initiative is aligned with national goals for availability of water and its sustainable management in the country.

The Funding Model: The program is backed by a projected outlay of ₹200 crore over 5 years. It awards massive research grants of up to ₹20 crore per project to multi-institutional teams.

Mandatory Industry Ties: To stop technologies from getting stuck in a lab, every project must form a consortium that includes universities, national labs, and at least one Startup, MSME, or Industry partner. The industry partner must contribute 10% of the project budget.

The Five Key Thematic Areas

The mission directs all funding and research into five priority pillars:

1. Water Resource Assessment & Sustainable Management: Improving how we map and plan surface and groundwater usage.
2. Drinking Water: Finding advanced ways to ensure reliable, affordable access to safe potable water.
3. Water Quality & Ecological Health: Creating real-time monitoring tools to fight contamination and ecosystem damage.
4. Water Use Efficiency & Circular Economy: Promoting the recycling, treatment, and reuse of wastewater across industries and farming.
5. Climate Resilience & Adaptation: Designing tech to handle climate-induced risks like glacier melting, droughts, and sudden floods.

About ANRF:

It has been established with ANRF 2023 Act; it acts as an apex body to provide high-level strategic direction of scientific research in the country as per recommendations of the NEP. 

With the establishment of ANRF, the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) established by an act of Parliament in 2008 has been subsumed into ANRF. 

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