Preparing India for a true innovation-led economy, Pg8

Key Highlights:

• The Indian government has shown unprecedented ambition in research, development, and innovation (RDI) through funding, regulatory reforms, and improved global innovation rankings.
• In 2026, the government reaffirmed its commitment to R&D with a ₹20,000 crore corpus for deep-tech startups and increased funding for Atal Tinkering Labs from ₹500 crore to ₹3,200 crore.
• India's Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking improved to 38th among 139 economies in 2025, with patent filings nearly doubling from under 59,000 in 2020-21 to over 1,10,000 in 2024-25.
• India's R&D expenditure is only 0.65% of GDP, which is lower than other advanced economies.

Detailed Insights:

• Despite government initiatives, India faces challenges in R&D intensity, global technological influence, research-to-market translation, and private-sector participation.
• The SHANTI Act, 2025 allows patents for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, potentially increasing private-sector involvement, but industry investment is crucial for translating this into deployable technologies.
• While domestic patent filings have increased, driven by policy, the underlying innovation base, particularly industry-led R&D, remains shallow.
• India's performance on human capital indicators is weak, ranking low in employment in knowledge-intensive sectors and the number of full-time equivalent researchers.
• There is a significant gender diversity gap in science and engineering, which affects innovation outcomes, despite government initiatives like WIDUSHI and WISE-KIRAN.
• The absence of globally significant technologies of Indian origin is due to the private sector's reluctance to invest in deep, long-gestation R&D.
• India needs to strengthen technology transfer, venture creation, and risk-capital alignment to bridge the gap between research and commercialization.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Research and Development (R&D): Activities undertaken to improve, innovate, and develop new products, processes, or services.
• Global Innovation Index (GII): A ranking of countries based on their capacity for, and success in, innovation.
• Deep-tech: Startups or companies that are based on high-tech or scientific advances and discoveries.

GII