In a move to strengthen research outcomes, the Maharashtra government has formed a state-level committee to improve the innovation and intellectual property (IP) ecosystem.
The government has constituted an 8-member panel to address gaps between patent filings and their real-world application. While patent filings across colleges and universities have increased, many are primarily driven by academic performance metrics rather than commercialisation.
The committee will be chaired by Aniruddha Pandit, vice-chancellor of Institute of Chemical Technology, along with Ravindra Kulkarni of University of Mumbai.
According to Pandit, only a small fraction of patents filed by Indian institutions progress to licensing or commercialisation. “Patents are often viewed by academicians as means to secure promotions under career advancement schemes. Even in leading institutions, the rise in the number of patents filed is not proportionate to those that progress to the licensing stage. There is very little effort to take these innovations to the next level, either to recover research costs or to create meaningful industry impact. This initiative could be a positive step toward making research more impactful, at the same time helping institutions become more self-sustainable,” he said.
The committee will submit its report within 3 months through the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE).
Key focus areas
- Strengthening patent evaluation, technology transfer, and industry collaboration
- Training faculty and researchers in patentability, drafting, and filing processes
- Establishing a state-level IP facilitation centre
- Creating a centralised patent database or “patent bank” across institutions
- Classifying patents as filed, granted, or commercialised
- Publishing patent data on the DTE portal
The government also highlighted that existing IP cells in institutions are largely limited to advisory roles and lack the expertise required for deeper commercialisation efforts.
Additionally, the panel will recommend policies to recognise patents as institutional contributions and define how they should be evaluated in NAAC and other academic assessments.
The committee will also suggest measures to curb misuse of the system, particularly the tendency to file patents solely for academic performance indicators.
The initiative aims to shift the focus from quantity of patents to quality, impact, and real-world application, helping institutions become more innovation-driven and self-sustainable.
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