Objectives

The ANRF MAHA Leapfrog Demonstrators for Societal Innovation in India program seeks to catalyse bold, integrated, and scalable solutions to India's most pressing societal challenges through research and innovation.

India's challenges demands solutions that go beyond incremental improvement - ones that address these challenges meaningfully, reach those who need them most, and show a credible path to scale adoption. Aligned with the national mandate to focus on India-centric problems and globally competitive solutions, this Call for Proposals (CFP) supports Leapfrog Demonstrations- integrated, research-driven demonstrators that validate transformative technical, economic, and/or social hypotheses at meaningful scale.

'Leapfrog Demonstrator' in this context, are projects that demonstrate how cutting edge research accelerate the transition of innovative solutions, from development stages to scalable high impact deployment. The focus is on deliberately designed research interventions to demonstrate transformative potential at scale. Such projects must go beyond laboratory-scale validation and demonstrate advancement along multiple dimensions of maturity.

Examples include projects that,

• Demonstrate leap in technical maturity, with solutions validated beyond controlled lab environments, showing performance under real-world conditions;
• Provide evidence of adoption and usability across relevant stakeholders (e.g., communities, farmers, public agencies, industry), indicating that the leapfrog solution addresses a clearly articulated need and is functionally deployable;
• Show proof of scalability through field-level implementation, which may vary by domain (e.g., multi-site pilots, district-level deployments, or context-specific operational environments such as disaster-prone regions etc.);
• Establish economic viability, including optimisation of performance and cost, support transition toward a plausible pathway for sustainable and large-scale deployment.

The program complements existing MAHA Mission Mode initiatives by accelerating innovation in societally critical domains through collaborative consortia. This program operates under two tracks:

A. Challenges Track

Directed calls based on clearly defined national problem statements with measurable goals and mission-oriented outcomes. ANRF publishes the defined challenges under this track with each call.

• Respond to a Defined National Challenge - Proposals must directly address the stated challenge and articulate why the proposed approach represents a transformational rather than incremental response. A compelling AS-IS vs TO-BE scenario at national or regional scale is required.
• Demonstrate a Leapfrog Solution - Proposals must explicitly describe the Leapfrog Demonstrator in capability, access, performance, or societal outcome it achieves along with the hypotheses it validates and the benchmarks that define success.
• Build Validated Evidence for Scale - Proposals must present a rigorous validation and benchmarking framework spanning technical, economic, and socio-technical dimensions, making a credible, multi-dimensional case for scale adoption.
• Embed a Translation Pathway - Proposals must include a concrete scale-up plan demonstrating how demonstrated results translate to national deployment, with clear milestones and adoption mechanisms (e.g. regulatory, compliances).
• Present a Capable Consortium - Proposals must demonstrate a clearly structured hub-and-spoke consortium with defined roles and committed partners across academia, industry, Startups, and where relevant, non-government and civil society.

Preliminary list of Challenges can be found here (Annexure - I)

B. Open Proposals Track

Proposals aligned with listed strategic societal areas, where applicants define the specific challenge and leapfrog solution framework.

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• Define and Justify a National Challenge - Proposals must independently establish the challenge being addressed making a rigorous case for why it is significant at national or regional scale, why it remains unresolved, and why it demands transformation rather than iteration. A detailed AS-IS vs TO-BE scenario is required to substantiate the stakes..
• Propose a Leapfrog Demonstrator - Proposals must articulate a bold, integrated solution that goes well beyond incremental improvement. They must describe what the Demonstrator will validate, what hypotheses it tests, and how success will be measured against independently verifiable benchmarks.
• Generate Multi-Dimensional Real-World Evidence - Proposals must present a validation framework that spans technical, economic, and socio-technical dimensions building a credible and independently defensible case for why the demonstrated solution can scale.
• Demonstrate a Credible Path to Scale - Since the problem is self-defined, proposals must present a proof on translation. The scale-up plan must include concrete milestones, stakeholder pathways, and adoption mechanisms and must make a convincing case how demonstrated results will translate to real-world impact.
• Build and Lead an Innovation Ecosystem - Proposals must present a clearly structured hub-and-spoke consortium and, given the self-directed nature of this track, must make a compelling case for why this particular team is uniquely positioned to lead the transformation. Partners across academia, industry, start-ups, and where relevant, government and civil society must be identified with defined roles and commitments.

Areas of Support
Illustrative strategic areas include (but are not limited to):

• Reimagining agriculture: resilience and sustainability
• Radical energy efficiency
• Reimagining transportation & safety
• Air, water, and industrial pollution
• Waste-to-wealth
• Smarter infrastructure
• Biodiversity preservation & monetization
• Skilling and jobs
• Community Health
• Sports Science, Physical Literacy & Health
• Economic Inclusion:
  • AI enabled digital literacy solutions for improving financial products utilization.
  • Financial products for credit, investments, insurance responsive to customer value-chain needs.

Note 1: Proposals submitted under the Open Track (Track B) must be distinct from the predefined Challenges (Track A). Strategic areas and problem statements explicitly listed under the Challenges Track are not eligible for consideration in the Open Track.

Note 2: ANRF reserves the right to redirect proposals to appropriate Mission Mode Programs if deemed better aligned elsewhere.

Nature and Extent of Support (Track A and Track B) :

(A) LARGE Projects

• Total Project Budget: ₹25 Crores to ₹100+ Crores
• ANRF Contribution: Up to ₹50 Crores
• Minimum 50% Cost Sharing in Cash
• Duration: Up to 60 months

(B) MEDIUM Projects

• Total Project Budget: ₹10 Crores to ₹25 Crores
• ANRF Contribution: Up to ₹12.5 Crores
• Minimum 50% Cost Sharing in Cash
• Duration: Up to 60 months

The balance amount (Total project cost - ANRF contribution) in cash may come from any non ANRF sources who may/may not be already ANRF partners in the program e.g., philanthropy, industry contribution etc.

General Guidelines:

• Cost sharing must be in cash from non-ANRF sources.
• In-kind contributions may be provided over and above the minimum cash requirement.
• Financial contributions must align with technological and scaling goals.
• The Lead Institution will receive and manage all funds and distribute them to eligible partners.

Eligibility Conditions:

Lead Institution and Lead Principal Investigator Eligibility

Each proposal must be submitted by a Lead Institution, headed by a Lead Principal Investigator (PI). The Lead PI

• Must hold a regular position at: Academic institutions / National Research Laboratories (NRLs). Lead PI can also be from Recognized not-for-profit Research Institutions / Section 8 companies whose object clause is aligned with program goals.
• Must Be Indian citizen or OCI holder.
• Must Hold a Ph.D. in Science, Engineering, Mathematics, relevant Social Sciences, or M.D./M.S./M.D.S./M.V.Sc.
• PIs from academic institutions / NRLs and nearing superannuation, may apply with a Co-PI having at least 5 years of service remaining. INSPIRE, Ramanujan, and Ramalingaswamy Fellows, may participate as Co-PIs.