The State Budget has allocated a total of ₹235.55 crore for science, technology, and environment sector.
Of this, ₹87.23 crore has been earmarked for the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology, and Environment (KSCSTE), a key institution under the science & technology sector.
This includes an amount of ₹8 crore for the various activities of Kerala School of Mathematics, ₹6 crore for activities of National Transportation Planning & Research Centre (NATPAC), ₹12.90 crore for activities of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden & Research Institute and ₹22.82 crore for the implementation of various schemes of KSCSTE.
“This time there seems to be a separate allocation of ₹3 crore for the proposed new Institute for Advance Crop Breeding going by the Budget speech. Otherwise, the allocation is in keeping with the usual practice of funding science popularisation and promotion of various research schemes. The budgetary allocation helps in the infrastructure development for activities of our various research institutes like the Kerala Forest Research Institute, National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) and so on,” said K.P. Sudheer, executive vice-president of KSCSTE.
Besides, an amount of ₹50 crore has been earmarked for the Institute of Advanced Virology and ₹73 crore for Regional Cancer Centre (RCC). The plan fund allocation in the Budget for RCC is split under four heads.
“The construction of the new 14-storied building approaching completion would receive ₹21 crore under the head of expansion of physical infrastructure. Of the remaining, ₹39 crore would be towards early detection of general cancer, ₹11 crore towards women-oriented and paediatric cancer and the remaining ₹2 crore towards training and research. In addition, there would be a non-plan fund allocation for meeting salary and other such expenses,” said Rekha A. Nair, director, RCC.
Environment sector
Activities related to ecology and environment has been allocated a total outlay of ₹25.32 crore and ₹10.50 crore for biodiversity conservation activities.
An amount of ₹1 crore has been earmarked for Kerala State Climate Change Adaptation Mission constituted last August, 2023, under the Environment department and chaired by the Chief Minister with the objective of facing various problems related to climate change.
