NEW DELHI, August 15, 2025: On the eve of Independence Day, the Government of India has launched a new digital platform aimed at helping rural communities access appropriate technologies and strengthening the link between innovators and village level needs.
Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, launched the RSVC AMRIT platform on August 15, developed by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA).
The platform will serve as the digital backbone of the RuTAGe Smart Village Centre ecosystem, bringing technology discovery, validation, deployment, monitoring and knowledge sharing into a common digital framework.
The launch was attended by Dr. Shaji Krishnan V., Chairman, NABARD, along with representatives from institutions and stakeholder organisations involved in rural development and technology adoption.
Independence Day: AMRIT to Power Smart Villages
Speaking at the launch, Prof. Sood said AMRIT is designed to support the full lifecycle of rural technology, from identifying suitable solutions and validating them to tracking deployment and measuring outcomes.
The platform is expected to bring together innovators, technology providers, startups, validators, accelerators, implementation partners, funding agencies, academic institutions and rural communities.
The broader objective is to make it easier for technologies developed in research institutions and innovation ecosystems to reach villages where they can address practical challenges.
The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser has been developing the wider RSVC framework as a model for rural technology adaptation, employment and entrepreneurship. AMRIT adds a digital layer to this village based network.
Bridging the rural technology gap
Dr. Shaji Krishnan said India has a strong network of scientific institutions, innovators, startups and technology providers, while the connection between these solutions and rural requirements remains a key challenge.
AMRIT is intended to address that gap by linking rural needs with appropriate technologies, institutions and implementation partners.
The platform will also support NABARD’s efforts to expand the RuTAGe Smart Village Centre model across the country. NABARD currently supports RSVCs as part of a wider effort to strengthen technology adoption and rural enterprise development.
The RSVC model brings affordable technologies closer to communities through village level centres. Its areas of focus include agriculture, rural enterprise, renewable energy, education, assistive technologies, water and sanitation and citizen services.
From village centres to a national network
The launch builds on earlier collaboration between NABARD, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser and NABFOUNDATION, the development subsidiary of NABARD.
NABARD has also established a Centre of Excellence on RSVCs at its head office in Mumbai to support the development and expansion of the model.
Under the proposed framework, RSVCs can be established with support from NABARD and in collaboration with corporates through their corporate social responsibility programmes. NABFOUNDATION will serve as an implementation partner.
AMRIT is expected to gradually develop into a national repository of rural technologies, innovations, practices and collaboration opportunities. The platform can also provide a common channel for tracking the performance of technologies after they reach the field.
The larger significance of the initiative lies in closing the distance between technology development and rural adoption. A research breakthrough has limited value for rural communities until it becomes accessible, affordable and useful in everyday life.
By bringing innovators, institutions, funders and village communities onto a common platform, AMRIT seeks to make that transition faster and more systematic.
The initiative comes as India works towards its broader development goals for 2047, with rural technology, local enterprise and grassroots innovation expected to play an important role in creating more productive and resilient rural economies.
