The Government of Sri Lanka has established an entity called the ‘Research and Development Commercialisation’ unit, for which it has allocated Rs.1 billion from the 2025 Budget to commercialise the the processes of innovative thinking, methodologies, productions, services or solutions that positively impact and add a value, according to Cabinet decision released yesterday (4).

“Rs.1 billion has been allocated from the Budget 2025 to commercialise the processes of innovative thinking, methodologies, productions, services or solutions that positively impact and add value, considerably through research and development to accelerate the execution of the production economic policy of the present Government,”according to the Cabinet decision. 

It further read: “Therefore, a special unit named ‘Research and Development Commercialisation Approach’ has been established under the Presidential Secretariat to establish a favourable methodology for executing projects after they are being evaluated of their technological and economic probability so that they can be contributed to development of the country.”

The statement further added that applications from local researchers and entrepreneurs for projects at present have been valued at Rs. 2.2 billion.

The unit has taken steps to prepare a methodology named ‘Research and Development Commercialisation’ to evaluate project proposals under two phases; technical evaluation and the administrative evaluation – to select projects that are economically, socially, and environmentally more productive.

It added that from the proposed projects, the special and essential projects that are key to economic growth, may be prioritised. 

Accordingly, the maximum grant sum that researchers and entrepreneurs may receive is Rs. 50 million.