A grand vision and the great Indian research deficit, Pg6

Key Highlights:

• India's research and development (R&D) expenditure is low, hovering between 0.6% and 0.7% of GDP.
• In 2023, India ranked sixth globally in patent filings with 64,480 applications, but its share was only 1.8% of the global total.
• The government sector contributes approximately 63.6% of R&D funds, while the private industrial sector contributes only around 36.4%.
• A ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund has been launched by the government.

Detailed Insights:

• India's R&D output is disproportionately low, producing only 3% of the world's research despite having 17.5% of the world's population.
• While India's patent filings are growing rapidly at 15.7%, its resident applications per million inhabitants rank low at 47th globally, indicating limited domestic innovation intensity.
• Major economies like China (2.4%), the United States (3.5%), and Israel (over 5.4%) spend a significantly higher percentage of their GDP on R&D compared to India.
• Indian industry focuses on incremental improvements and technology licensing, contributing to low investment in disruptive innovation and domestic development.
• The persistent academia-industry disconnect hinders technology transfer and commercialization of research, preventing valuable research from reaching the marketplace.
• Brain drain exacerbates the R&D deficit, as talented researchers seek better opportunities abroad due to limited research facilities and lower salaries in India.
• To achieve "Viksit Bharat," India needs to raise R&D expenditure to at least 2% of GDP in the next five to seven years, with private sector contribution increasing to 50%.
• India should focus on national missions in strategic domains like semiconductors, AI, quantum computing, advanced materials, and green energy with long-term funding.
• Universities must transition into research centers by boosting funding for PhD programs, creating research faculty positions, and building world-class infrastructure.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Research and Development (R&D): Activities undertaken to improve, innovate, and develop new products, processes, or services.
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period.
• Intellectual Property: Creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, and symbols, names, and images used in commerce.