Office of PSA Holds First State Nodal Officers Meeting on I-STEM

The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India on 21 September 2026 convened the first "State Governments Nodal Officers Meeting" for the I-STEM portal. It was chaired by Dr (Mrs) Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary in the Office of the PSA, and brought together nodal officers from 23 States and 4 UTs.

What is I-STEM?

I-STEM stands for the Indian Science Technology and Engineering facilities Map. It is a national portal where institutions list their scientific equipment so that researchers, start-ups and industry elsewhere can find and book it, instead of buying the same costly instrument again.

Why bring in the States

Many State universities, colleges and technical institutions have limited access to specialised instruments, and many also own equipment that is under-used. The meeting discussed how to bring State-level universities, laboratories and R&D facilities onto the national platform, both as users and as facility providers. Nodal officers are to act as the link between their State Government, its institutions and I-STEM, helping with onboarding, equipment listing, awareness and use. The meeting included an overview of the portal and a detailed orientation on how institutions register and list their instruments.

Key priorities agreed

• Get State universities and laboratories to register on I-STEM.
• Let researchers, start-ups, MSMEs and industry discover facilities across States.
• Use the national picture of equipment to plan future investment and avoid duplication.
• Integrate similar portals, such as CSIR's ANALYTICS portal, with I-STEM through API links.

Dr Maini also highlighted One Nation One Subscription (ONOS), which gives institutions wider access to scholarly journals, as part of the same push to make publicly funded research resources available to all.