A decade of placing research and innovation at the centre

Why in the News

Over a decade, India has rebuilt its research base around new funding institutions and mission mode programmes, putting research and innovation at the centre of growth policy. The shift dates to the Prime Minister’s “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan” call at the 2019 Indian Science Congress. The test now is whether higher spending turns into frontier technology.

How has the research architecture changed?

1. Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF): It funds new research across universities, colleges and laboratories, and links academia, industry and government.
2. The “valley of death”: This is the stage where a technology needs pilot scale demonstration and productisation just as its risk and capital needs rise sharply, so many ideas die.
3. Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund: The Rs 1 lakh crore fund is meant to bridge that gap with patient, risk tolerant capital, money that waits years for returns.
4. Women in science: Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)-KIRAN, Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) and Vigyan Jyoti widen opportunities for women.
5. The takeaway: India now has separate instruments for discovery and for taking technology to market, the stage where risk keeps private money away.

What do the headline indicators show?

1. Global Innovation Index (GII): India now ranks 38th, up from 81st a decade earlier.
2. Publications: India ranks third globally in the volume of science and engineering publications.
3. Research spending: Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) more than tripled in rupee terms in a decade, and stands at about 0.84% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
4. Private share: The private sector’s share of GERD rose from 32.2% to 45.2% in that decade.

Which missions carry the sectoral push?

1. National Quantum Mission: It spans the full quantum stack, from computing and communication to sensing, metrology, materials and devices.
2. IndiaAI Mission: It covers compute, datasets, skilling, foundational models and responsible artificial intelligence (AI).
3. India Semiconductor Mission: It has approved 10 projects across six States, most of them chip packaging units. Semicon 2.0 pushes into equipment, materials, indigenous intellectual property (IP) and talent.
4. BioE3 Policy: The Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment policy spans bio based chemicals to precision biotherapeutics and space biotech. The bioeconomy, output from biology based industries, has grown nearly twentyfold in a decade.
5. Deep Ocean Mission and Mission Mausam: They extend the approach to resource and climate security.

How have space, nuclear, digital and start up sectors opened up?

1. Space sector: The Indian Space Policy, 2023 and the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) opened launches and satellite making to private firms. Over 400 space start ups now operate.
2. Nuclear energy: The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, 2025 allows private participation, subject to licensing, safety and regulatory requirements.
3. Digital public infrastructure: Built on the JAM trinity of Jan Dhan accounts, Aadhaar and mobile phones, it grew through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), DigiLocker and Account Aggregator.
4. Start up ecosystem: Since Startup India in 2016, India has become the world’s third largest start up ecosystem, backed by the Fund of Funds and Atal Innovation Mission.

Challenges

1. Spending still low: GERD remains far below leading research economies. Some estimates put it lower still, near 0.64% of GDP.
2. Thin researcher base: India has about 260 researchers per million people, against over 4,000 in the United States and the United Kingdom.
3. Private funding below half: Business still funds less than half of India’s research.
4. Procedural delays: Delays in procurement, approvals and compliance slow research and its conversion into products.

Way Forward

1. Ease of doing research: Apply NITI Aayog’s ROPE framework (Removing Obstacles and Promoting Enablers) to cut procurement and approval delays.
2. Spending target: Raise GERD towards 1.5% of GDP through private investment, tax incentives and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.
3. Research beyond elite institutions: Use ANRF grants to build research capacity in State universities and colleges.

Conclusion

India has built the institutions and missions of a research led economy, but its spending, researcher base and private funding still trail the economies it competes with. Whether the new research foundation and the RDI Fund reach researchers and start ups at the riskiest stage is the test.

Key numbers

1. GERD in rupees: Rs 79,355.89 crore (2013-14) to Rs 2,44,767.81 crore (2023-24).
2. Bioeconomy: about $10 billion (2014) to about $195.3 billion (2025), projected $300 billion by 2030.
3. Start ups: over 2 lakh registered start ups and over 130 unicorns.
4. Semiconductor projects: two fabs and eight packaging units.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2019, GS3, 10 marks] How was India benefited from the contributions of Sir M.Visvesvaraya and Dr. M. S. Swaminathan in the fields of water engineering and agricultural science respectively?”