In a major initiative to boost India's innovation ecosystem, NITI Aayog organized the National Workshop on "Building Synergies in the Indian Innovation Ecosystem" in GIFT City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat on 22nd March 2025. The workshop, curated by NITI Aayog and coordinated by the Gujarat Council on Science & Technology (GUJCOST), Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the Government of Gujarat, sought to stimulate partnership and learnings among primary stakeholders like government officers, academic leaders, industry specialists, startup founders, and global delegates. The agenda of the workshop was centered around important areas including R&D expenditure, state policy for innovation, innovation trends in the world, and grass-root entrepreneurship. Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member (Science & Technology) in NITI Aayog, and Smt.

Mona Khandhar, IAS, Principal Secretary of Department of Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat, were among the key personalities present at the event, stressing the need for a collective approach towards innovation. Dr. Saraswat called for more integration of government, academia, and industry to push India's innovation ecosystem. He suggested increased focus on supporting DeepTech startups and stressed the country's shift from being a service economy to a product economy. Smt. Khandhar addressed Gujarat's active initiative in fostering the innovation ecosystem through policy interventions like the Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, Gujarat Semiconductor Policy, and the Gujarat Electronics Policy. Dr. Sacha Wunsch-Vincent of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presented information on India's increasingly strong intellectual property profile and the country's intentions for developing its science and technology clusters. The event included thought-provoking discussions, one of them on creating an innovation-friendly India, held by Dr. R Ramanan, Ex-MD of Atal Innovation Mission.

The other important sessions discussed state-level innovation programs, grassroots innovators' success stories, and India's emerging position in the global innovation ecosystem, with inputs from Dr. Rajul Gajjar, Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Technological University.

The workshop ended with a look-ahead discussion on future action plans to enhance India's innovation ecosystem, with contributions from Dr. Saraswat and top officials from NITI Aayog and the Government of Gujarat.