Representative image of R&D.
Credit: Pixabay Photo
Bengaluru: Despite making rapid progress in research and development (R&D), India’s spend on it as a percentage of GDP is far short of countries such as China, the US and Israel, the Economic Survey 2023-24 noted. Also, the private sector’s contribution remains nominal.
As a standalone case, India has made remarkable progress these past year with R&D. The Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) in the country has more than doubled from Rs 60,196.8 crore in FY11 to Rs 127,381 crore in FY21. India’s rank went from the 81st position in 2015 to 40th in 2023 in the Global Innovation Index 2023. India is also ranked nine in the Nature’s Index 2023.
“According to WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation), India saw the highest growth (31.6%) in patent filings in 2022,” the Survey said. Nearly one lakh patents were granted in FY24, compared to less than 25,000 patent grants in FY20. India’s share of high-quality research articles climbed up by 44% in the past four years from 1,039.7 in 2019 to 1,494.7 in 2023.
Yet, when held in comparison, these achievements fade. For one, its R&D investment as a percentage of GDP at 0.64% is also far below China’s 2.41%, the US’ 3.47%, and Israel’s 5.71%. If India produced 1,497 in 2023, China and the US have each delivered 20,000 each. Again, the private sector’s contribution to R&D in India is just 36.4% of its GERD, which is dismal when compared to China’s 77% and the US’ 75%.
What is more, even the little it is producing is fraught with challenges, as the Survey points out, “Institutions in India develop technologies, but their transformation rate from the lab to the society for the benefit of the people remains low.”
An area where this gap is more evident is space technologies. The Survey said, “Adoption of space-based technology and services are often related to their adequate integration into societal applications, towards meeting the requirements of end users.” Limited demand, pricing constraints, and a competitive marketplace are among stumbling blocks in the commercialisation of space technologies in the country, it highlighted.
In the interim budget presented on February 1, the government had announced a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore for research and innovation in the country.
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