Forensic Science Infrastructure in India

A new law now requires a forensic expert at the scene of every serious crime. But a law needs labs, vans and trained staff to work. This lesson explains how India is building that forensic network, who pays for it, and what the latest figures say.

1Chapter 1: The Network and Its University

Must Know

How it is built

• India’s forensic network runs on State Forensic Science Laboratories (FSLs).
• They are backed by one national training and research university.
• The National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) is the world’s first university dedicated entirely to forensic sciences.
• It began in 2009 as the Gujarat Forensic Sciences University.
• On 1 October 2020, it became NFSU.
• It is an Institution of National Importance. It works under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Its headquarters are in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• Read more: Gujarat, AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) and IIT Delhi, two other Institutions of National Importance.

2Chapter 2: The Law Behind It

Must Know

BNSS Section 176(3)

• The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, makes forensic evidence collection mandatory.
• Section 176(3) applies to offences punishable with 7 or more years of imprisonment.
• A forensic expert must visit the crime scene.
• The evidence-collection process must be video-recorded.
• It does not apply to every crime scene.
• Before BNSS, no codified law compelled police to bring a forensic expert. It depended on local practice, resources and the officer’s discretion.
• There is a fallback. A State without local facilities can use another State’s until it builds its own.
• BNSS set a five-year implementation timeline for this provision.
• Read more: The New Criminal Laws: BNS, BNSS and BSA and BNSS 2023 and Zero FIR.

3Chapter 3: The Money

Good to Know

The modernisation scheme

• The Scheme for Modernization of Forensic Capacities was approved in 2022.
• Its total outlay is ₹2,080.5 crore.
• It covers both laboratory upgrades and mobile forensic vans.
• The scheme exists to make Section 176(3) achievable in practice.
• A legal mandate works only if the vans, labs and trained staff exist to carry it out.

Labs and vans

• ₹420 crore funds the modernisation and upgrade of State and UT Forensic Science Laboratories.
• ₹496.66 crore is set aside for Mobile Forensic Vans (MFVs). They go to all districts and State FSLs nationwide.
• Once allocated, each State or UT bears the running costs of its vans. The central scheme does not.

What a van carries

• Equipment for crime-scene documentation, photography and videography.
• Kits for biological and trace-evidence collection.
• Tools for fingerprint development and preliminary examination of physical evidence.
• Secure exhibit preservation and digital documentation.

4Chapter 4: Latest Figures

Current Affairs

Rajya Sabha, 5 August 2026

• On 5 August 2026, Union MoS for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar shared the latest figures in a written Rajya Sabha reply.
• The government has approved ₹496.66 crore for Mobile Forensic Vans.
• So far, 619 vans have been allocated.
• (Source: Indian Masterminds.)
• Read more: Police Reforms in India.

Quick Q&A

• NFSU HQ? Gandhinagar.
• Scheme outlay? ₹2,080.5 crore.
• Van funding? ₹496.66 crore.
• BNSS section? 176(3).
• Vans allocated? 619.