Dr. Anita Gupta, a visionary leader and dedicated public servant, is the currently the Head of the Climate, Energy and Sustainable Technologies (CEST) Vertical at the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India . With a distinguished career in advancing India's technological frontiers, she is a key facilitator and enabler of infusing critical thinking , problem solving , innovation , entrepreneurship , pathways for decarbonizing India and Clean Energy transition. Dr. Gupta has played a pivotal role in shaping key programs , partnership models and policies that promote , nurture and accelerate clean energy solutions and sustainable technologies, driving India's march towards becoming a global leader in technology and environmental stewardship by adopting approaches of both climate change adaptation and mitigation. She also represents India in the Global platform, Mission Innovation (MI), where DST is the nodal department from GoI in MI.
Dr. Gupta holds a doctorate in engineering from IIT Delhi , M.Tech from MANIT, Bhopal and B.E from NIT Raipur. She possesses over 28 years of rich experience in managing Government of India-led programs on innovation and entrepreneurship. Previously, she served as the Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at DST, where she pioneered the growth of innovation, entrepreneurship, and startups leading to its vertical and horizontal growth in the country . She has been instrumental in establishing over 175 technology business incubators at institutions of academic excellence, including IITs, IIMs, NITs, and leading private universities. Dr. Gupta has played a key role in carving out the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) under the Prime Minister's flagship initiative of Startup India Stand up India. She has demonstrated capabilities in transforming the Indian innovation landscape by engaging in new models of public-private partnerships with leading MNCs such as Intel, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Texas Instruments, Tata, and Bennett Coleman and Co. She has led highly successful PPP programs like the India Innovation Growth Program, Power of Ideas, and Innovate for Digital India. Dr. Gupta's national-level experience includes promoting technology-based startups and empowering society through nurturing micro-enterprises based on relevant technologies.
In the Ministry, her initiatives include setting up the Department's first Research Park at IIT Gandhinagar, providing seed and acceleration support for startups in incubators, launching the India Innovation Challenge for engineering students, and leading the hardware product-based incubation program, Plugin. She also led many cross border collaborations both on startups, women entrepreneurs and in clean energy domain. Dr. Gupta has significantly contributed in fostering international linkages with countries like Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Cambodia, Denmark, EU, France , Germany , Malaysia, also over ten Indian delegations of innovators , startups including women led startups , researchers and scientists to Israel, Netherlands, Russia ,Singapore, UAE and USA.
In her current role, the landscape of clean energy projects to steer Research, Development and Demonstration encompasses Solar Energy, Energy Storage, Hydrogen, Clean coal technologies, Alternate fuels, Electric Mobility, Smart Grids, Building Energy Efficiency, Sustainable cooling and Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) technologies etc. Few Bilateral /Multilateral projects have also been initiated in clean energy domain i.e. Solar Energy, Smart grids, Hydrogen and CCUS.