Data from the budget documents of 2022-23 indicates that the actual expenditure incurred by all the three departments viz., Department of Science (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) under the Ministry of Science & Technology fell in the pandemic year of 2020-21, compared to 2019-20. The global COVID-19 pandemic has reemphasized the importance of Scientific development and research. The development of COVID-19 vaccines and other measures to contain the pandemic was made possible with investments in scientific research & development by organizations and respective governments around the world. India is among the few countries which are at the forefront of developing & manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines. Apart from the development of vaccines, technologies relating to clean & alternative energy, space, telecommunication, etc. are among those which shape the future and require significant investments in research & development. In this story, we look at the budget allocation in recent years towards science research & development. We specifically analyse the allocation made for the– Department of Science (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR). Fall in the actual expenditure of DST in 2020-21 The Budget allocation for the Ministry of Science & Technology for 2022-23 fell by around 3.9% compared to 2021-22. In 2022-23, Rs. 14.21 thousand crores were allocated compared to Rs. 14.97 thousand crores in 2021-22. The Ministry of Science & Technology has three departments – the Department of Science & Technology (DST), the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR). The budget allocation for DST fell from Rs. 6.07 thousand crores in 2021-22 to Rs.6 thousand crores in 2022-23. This is a continuation of a recent declining trend of budget allocation as the allocation for 2021-22 was in turn less than for 2020-21. The data from earlier years indicates that the revised estimates and actual expenditure for DST were slightly lower than the initial budget estimates. But during the pandemic hit 2020-21, the revised estimates were much lower at Rs. 5 thousand cores compared to the budget allocation of Rs. 6.3 thousand crores. The actual expenditure of DST for 2020-21 was still lower at Rs.4.89 thousand crores i.e., around 77.6% of the budget allocation for the year. In the earlier years, the actual expenditure has been close to an average of 95 % of the budget estimates of the respective year. In fact, the Actual expenditure during 2020-21 is lower than during each of the previous two years of 2019-20 and 2018-19. In 2020-21, the budget allocation for Central Sector Schemes/projects was Rs. 3.2 thousand crores. But the actual expenditure was only Rs. 2.18 thousand crores. The budget allocation in 2022-23 towards Central Sector Scheme/projects is Rs. 2.89 thousand crores, compared to Rs. 2.91 thousand crores in 2021-22. The revised estimates for 2021-22 were reduced to Rs. 2.14 thousand crores towards Central sector schemes/projects. Going by the trends of the last two years, the actual spending could be lower than the revised estimates. Further drill-down of the allocation reveals that the budget cut was under the heads of ‘Science & Technology Instructional & Human Capacity building’ and ‘Innovation, Technology Development & Deployment’. The impact of the pandemic on these cannot be ruled out. Fall in actual expenditure towards ‘Biotechnology Research & Development’ in 2020-21 As per the budget documents for 2022-23, the actual expenditure of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in 2020-21 was Rs. 2.26 thousand crores, compared to Rs. 2.36 thousand crores in 2019-20. This is lower than even the revised estimates for 2020-21, which was reduced to Rs. 2.3 thousand crores compared to budget estimates of Rs. 2.79 thousand crores, indicating a fall in spending during the pandemic. For 2021-22, the budget estimates were increased to Rs. 3.5 thousand crores compared to Rs. 2.79 thousand crores for 2020-21. However, the revised estimates reduced this amount to Rs. 2.96 thousand crores. As in the case of DST, the fall in the expenditure can be attributed to ‘Central sector schemes & projects’. For 2021-22, the budget estimates were increased towards both ‘Biotechnology Research & Development’ and ‘Industrial & Entrepreneurship Development’. In view of the pandemic, this was a welcome initiative. The budget estimates of ‘Biotechnology Research & Development’ in 2021-22 were Rs. 1.66 thousand crores compared to Rs. 1.58 thousand in 2020-21.