Mumbai, June 18: In a move aimed at bridging the gap between academic research and industry application, the Maharashtra Government has granted in-principle approval for the establishment of the Maharashtra Academy for Nurturing Technology, Research and Intellectual Assets (MANTRA), a state-level centre designed to support patent creation, intellectual property management, technology transfer and research commercialisation across higher education institutions.
The initiative, spearheaded by the Higher and Technical Education Department, seeks to address a long-standing challenge within India’s research ecosystem: the inability of a significant proportion of academic research to progress beyond laboratories, dissertations and scholarly publications into commercially viable products, technologies and intellectual property assets.
Stronger Policy Framing
Maharashtra hosts one of India’s largest networks of universities, engineering colleges, technical institutions and research centres. While these institutions generate substantial volumes of research each year, only a small fraction ultimately results in patents, technology licensing agreements or industry adoption.
According to the Department, the absence of structured intellectual property support, limited awareness of patent procedures and the complexity of commercialisation pathways have often prevented promising innovations from reaching the market.
To address these gaps, the Government constituted an expert committee under the chairmanship of Dr A. B. Pandit, Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, to recommend a comprehensive framework for strengthening intellectual property creation and research commercialisation within Maharashtra’s higher education ecosystem.
Institutional Support
Based on consultations with academic institutions and researchers, the committee recommended the creation of MANTRA as a dedicated state-level platform providing end-to-end support throughout the innovation lifecycle.
The proposed centre will assist researchers in identifying patentable innovations, conducting prior-art searches, evaluating patentability, drafting patent specifications, filing patent applications and pursuing subsequent prosecution processes.
The initiative is expected to be particularly beneficial for universities and colleges that currently lack specialised intellectual property management systems or access to patent expertise.
Faculty Capacity Building
As part of the first phase, the Department will introduce Sankalp, a two-credit, 30-hour training programme for faculty members across Maharashtra. The programme will focus on intellectual property management, patent procedures, innovation ecosystems and research commercialisation.
MANTRA is proposed to begin operations from July 1 at the University of Mumbai’s Kalina campus.
Patent Bank
Another key component of the initiative is the creation of a state-level Patent Bank, which will serve as a repository of patents generated by educational institutions across Maharashtra.
The Patent Bank is expected to improve visibility of academic innovations, facilitate industry-academia collaboration and create opportunities for technology licensing and commercial partnerships.
Second Phase
In the second phase, the focus will shift towards technology transfer, industry engagement and the wider deployment of intellectual property generated within academic institutions.
The objective is to ensure that publicly funded research contributes not only to academic knowledge but also to economic value creation, entrepreneurship and industrial innovation.
Funding and Structure
The Government has proposed an allocation of approximately ₹60 crore for the initiative. A total of 28 positions, including a Director, Deputy Director and domain experts, are planned to support the functioning of the centre.
The establishment of MANTRA represents one of Maharashtra’s most significant attempts to build a structured “research-to-market” ecosystem within higher education. If implemented effectively, the initiative could strengthen the state’s innovation capacity, increase patent generation and accelerate the translation of academic research into technologies with commercial and societal impact.
