ESTIC-2026 to bring Nobel laureates, startups and global science leaders to Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Emerging Science, Technology & Innovation Conclave (ESTIC-2026) will be held from October 27 to 29 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to inaugurate the three-day event, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology Jitendra Singh announced on Thursday.

The second edition of ESTIC will bring together three Nobel laureates, global scientific leaders, deep-tech startups, young researchers, industry leaders, policymakers and representatives from academia, PSUs and research institutions.

Prof. Joachim Frank, Sir Richard J. Roberts and Prof. Kostya Novoselov are among the Nobel laureates participating in the conclave.

Breaking silos between research and markets

Addressing the curtain-raiser event, Jitendra Singh said ESTIC was conceived as a new approach to bring different components of India’s science and technology ecosystem onto a common platform instead of holding fragmented events throughout the year.

Under the theme “Creative Minds, Catalyzing Science, Empowering Technologies”, ESTIC-2026 will focus on strengthening connections between scientific research, startups, industry, markets and society.

Singh said the time had come to break institutional silos and build stronger pathways for translating scientific research into technologies, businesses and wider societal applications.

He also called for greater integration of management and communication expertise with science. Management institutions, he said, could help startups with market access and business strategies, while communication institutions could help take scientific achievements to young people and wider sections of society.

Startups expanding beyond metros

Highlighting the changing geography of Indian entrepreneurship, Singh said India had grown from around 350-400 startups in 2014 to more than 2.3 lakh startups, making it the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem.

He noted that 50-60% of startups are now emerging from small towns rather than metros, and said these entrepreneurs need greater access to experts, business leaders, entrepreneurs and markets to scale their ventures.

The Minister also highlighted government initiatives including the National Research Foundation and the ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund as part of efforts to create an enabling environment for research and innovation.

12 thematic areas

ESTIC-2026 will feature plenary sessions, 12 thematic technical sessions, panel discussions, startup and technology presentations, exhibitions, poster sessions and B2B and B2G meetings.

The thematic areas will cover advanced manufacturing, energy technologies, synthetic biology, ocean and maritime technologies, quantum communication, semiconductors, agri-tech, generative and autonomous AI, robotics, advanced healthcare, immersive technologies and space science.

The technology exhibition showcasing India’s startup and deep-tech ecosystem will be open to the public from the second day.

Roadmap beyond the conclave

Singh called for a roadmap with short- and long-term milestones so that the outcomes of ESTIC-2026 feed into subsequent editions and inter-ministerial cooperation continues beyond the three-day event.

He also stressed the need to improve awareness among young innovators about startup registration, patents and other procedures needed to take innovations from ideas to implementation.

The conclave is being organised by CSIR under the guidance of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, with CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram, as the organising partner. The inaugural edition brought together 13 ministries, leading institutions, industry partners and more than 5,000 delegates.

Registration for ESTIC-2026 is open and will close on September 15, 2026.