A Grand Vision and A Great Indian Research Deficit

With its vast human capital and a rapidly expanding economy, India harbours ambitions of becoming a global power. Yet this grand vision is significantly hampered by a chronic insufficiency in research and development (R&D).

Scale of the R&D Deficit in India

• Research Output vs Population Share: India accounts for 17.5% of the world’s population. However, it produces only about 3% of global research output. 
  • This highlights a failure to convert demographic dividend into knowledge capital.
• Intellectual Property Creation: According to WIPO (2023): India ranked 6th globally with 64,480 patent filings, posting the fastest growth (+15.7%) among the top 20 countries; yet its global share remains low at ~1.8% of 3.55 million applications.
• Resident Patent Intensity: India ranks 47th globally in resident patent applications per million inhabitants, indicating low per-capita innovation intensity despite high aggregate filings.
• R&D Expenditure (Comparative): India’s gross R&D spending remains stuck at 0.6–0.7% of GDP (declining in relative terms), far below China (~2.4%), the United States (~3.5%), and Israel (>5.4%).
• Corporate R&D Intensity: In 2023, Huawei invested CNY 164.7 billion (≈ $23.4 billion) in R&D, exceeding India’s total combined public and private R&D expenditure. 
  • This underscores how firm-led R&D intensity drives next-generation technological power, with NVIDIA Chairman Jensen Huang noting that Huawei is only “nanoseconds” behind the US in advanced semiconductor capability.

Structural Weaknesses in India’s Innovation Ecosystem

• State-Dominated R&D Funding: The government accounts for ~63.6% of total R&D funding, while the private sector contributes only ~36.4%, reflecting weak industry leadership in innovation.
• Risk-Averse Private Industry: Indian firms largely focus on incremental innovation, prefer technology licensing over in-house development, and display a limited appetite for high-risk, disruptive R&D.
• Academia–Industry Disconnect: As highlighted in N.R. Narayana Murthy’s report, Indian academia often functions in silos, producing largely theoretical research. Technology transfer, commercialisation, and joint research mechanisms remain weak, creating a persistent “valley of death” between laboratories and markets.
• Brain Drain of Research Talent: Despite producing large numbers of engineers and PhDs, India loses top talent to better-funded ecosystems abroad offering superior infrastructure, research freedom, and career prospects, while domestic facilities and compensation benchmarks remain uncompetitive.
• Bureaucratic Rigidities in Public R&D: Public R&D is constrained by slow project approvals and unpredictable fund disbursement, undermining the continuity and effectiveness of long-term research programmes.

Way Forward

• Increasing R&D Investment: India must raise R&D expenditure to at least 2% of GDP within five to seven years, through higher public spending and incentives that lift private sector participation to at least 50% of total R&D.
• Research, Development and Innovation Fund: The ₹1 lakh crore RDI Fund is a major step, but its effectiveness will hinge on efficient disbursement and targeted support for frontier technologies.
• Mission-Oriented Research Strategy: India should pursue national missions in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced materials, and green energy, backed by long-term funding and clearly defined outcomes linked to national security and economic sovereignty.
• Universities as Research Centres: Universities must transition from teaching-focused institutions to research-intensive hubs, requiring stronger PhD funding, competitive research faculty positions, and world-class infrastructure.
• Strengthening Academia–Industry Linkages: Industry-sponsored research chairs and joint incubation centres should be institutionalised to bridge the academia–industry divide.
• Strengthening the Intellectual Property Ecosystem: India must simplify patent procedures, strengthen enforcement, and offer financial incentives for commercially successful patents.

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Conclusion

India has the intellectual capacity and ambition to become a global innovation leader. However, the current deficit in R&D investment, highlighted by comparisons with global economies and firms such as Huawei, threatens the realisation of Viksit Bharat’s vision beyond 2047.

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