The report maps India’s public R&D ecosystem highlighting issues and providing recommendations.
Status of R&D in India
- Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD): Reached approximately Rs. 2 lakh crores in 2020-21 (an eightfold increase over two decades) i.e. 0.6% to 0.7% of GDP.
- Funding Sources: Government Sector (63.6%) bears the majority of India’s gross expenditure.Sectorial Distribution: Agriculture and allied sectors dominate India’s public R&D landscape accounting for 51% followed by health and IT & telecom sectors.
- Geographical Concentration: The southern region hosts over 36% of public R&D institutes while the Northeast remains underrepresented with only 1.8%.
- City-Level Clustering: About 48% of the total Central R&D institutions are hosted within the 10 most populous cities of India.
Recommendations
- Proximity to Industry Clusters: Future R&D institutes should be planned close to similar specialty industries to facilitate greater collaboration
- Centralized Research Hubs: To enable resource sharing, foster cross-industry collaboration and pool expertise across multiple industry locations.
- Collaborative Spaces: To foster interaction among researchers, industry professionals and entrepreneurs promoting innovation. Example: Industrial Liaison Program of MIT.
- Create Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) to enable researchers and companies to transfer technologies to the market.
- Other recommendations: Streamline Administrative Procedures, Partner with private enterprises, Establish Clear IP Guidelines, Address Infrastructure Gaps etc.