Realizing India’s Research, Innovation and Technology Aspiration for Sustainable Leadership
The crisis of the pandemic has also provided a compelling opportunity for Research institutions, Academia and Industry to work in unison and collaboration.
By Vipin Sondhi,
India is consistently marching ahead on its journey towards sustainable development and towards achieving its aspiration to become a USD 5 trillion economy. The upcoming VisionIndia@2047 that the Government of India is preparing has also initiated an exercise to identify key drivers for this journey. Indeed, a strong emphasis is needed on strengthening the Nation’s ecosystem of Research, Innovation and Technology development to achieve this aspiration. The crisis of the pandemic has also provided a compelling opportunity for Research institutions, Academia and Industry to work in unison and collaboration. The synergy developed would be instrumental in leveraging and catapulting India towards atechnology led growth which is enshrined in sustainability.
The current state of Research, Innovation and Technology ecosystem in India
Over the last few years, India has been making massive strides forward in technology. It stands today as one of the leading nations of the world in terms of research, innovation and technological prowess. We are set in the right path with a leap of 35 places in 6 years, from a rank of 81 in 2015 to a rank of 46 in 2021 on the Global Innovation Index. India also ranks at number three in global ranking in terms of research publications. We are now the third most attractive investment destination for technology transactions and also one of the largest start-up ecosystems in the world.
However, there is a lot more ground to cover to achieve sustainability in technological leadership. Indeed, while India’s Gross expenditure on Research & Development (GERD) has been consistently increasing in absolute terms and has nearly tripled in the last 10 years; but it is still low at 0.7%. In terms of percentage of GDP, it is the lowest amongst BRICS nations. Globally, the average investment in research as a percentage of GDP stands at 2.3% for developed economies and at 1.25% for developing economies. It is imperative for India to substantially ramp-up investments in Research, Innovation and Technologywhich shall help India attain a leadership that is sustainable.
Secondly, unlike other developed economies where more than 70% contribution of investment in Research, Innovation and Technology comes from the private sector, in India the private sector contribution to it is less than 40% (indeed it is 37%). The bulk of the R&D investment is done by the government whichcontributes more than 55% to Research, Innovation and Technology in the form of investments in research labs like DRDO, CSIR, DAE, ICAR etc. Moreover, around 7% of investment contribution comes the public enterprises and academic institutions. With the rapidly changing and disruptive technology landscape globally, India’s private sector needs to boost its R&D investment for being relevant and ready for the next phase of growth.
It is in this pursuit, that the following recommendations are made here, to help India achieve its technology leadership goals.
Key Recommendations to achieve Sustainable Leadership in Research, Innovation & Technology
- Enhancing Investment in Research, Innovation & Technology to 4% of GDP by 2047
Low investment in R&D and, particularly the lack of investments of private players in innovation are major contributors to suboptimal research outcomes. India as a nation should invest 4% of GDP in R&D by 2047. This necessitates a sharp, focused approach by both government and the private sector. In 2021-22, almost Rs 14,700 crore was allocated to the Ministry of Science and Technology with nearly Rs 6,000 crore to DST, Rs 5,200 crore to DSIR and Rs 3,500 crore to DBT. DST and DBT have been the major contributors towards R&D investments. To give a significant boost to investment in R&D, it is important to at least double the allocation of funds to our scientific ministries, which implies that at least Rs 30,000 crore be allocated to Ministry of Science and Technology in the Union Budget 2022-23.
At the same time, the private sector, which contributes 37% toResearch investment of country (GERD) must target to take it to 70% in line with global trends. To ensure this, the private sector must identify India relevant technologies to invest in and then undertake mission mode programs in identified technologies. Platforms like GITA (Global Innovation & Technology Alliance) must be leveraged for global R&D collaborations. Corporates can also invest in technology business incubators or contribute to research efforts carried out by institutions and national research laboratories as a part of their CSR activities.
At the same time, the Government should incentivize the private sector to invest more in R&D to take India to the next level. De-risking mechanisms for joint investments by industry and government, particularly for high-risk and high-investment projects (e.g. UK’s Catapult Centre type model to drive collective effort across industry, academia and research institutions) should be explored. For this, the link between industry, academia and government must be strengthened and put on a firm platform.
- Leveraging the vibrant Startup ecosystem and young talent
Today the Young Talent of India, including especially Womenvia startups or otherwise, are scripting the saga of success for a thriving innovation led economy. This is creating valuable Intellectual property and simultaneously generating sizeable employment. As we move ahead, we must consider creating synergies of startups with large corporates for incubation and handholding. In particular women entrepreneurs must be encouraged to participate in the research, innovation and technology ecosystem of the country.
- Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs): Powerhouse forinnovation and technology leadership
As India treads towards its Research, Innovation and Technology leadership aspiration, it is important to protect the results of investments by securing its Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). IPRs are increasingly becoming an ‘intellectual currency’ helping to promote competitiveness of countriesworld-wide. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), India is ranked at 7th position among the top 10 Patent Filing Offices in the world. However, only 30% patents are filed by Indian residents as against a global average of over 60%. India also ranks low on IP commercialization. Moreover, the academia set-up of India has traditionally been largely focused on research publications than business commercialization.
It is encouraging to see that while Government recognizes IP as a valuable assets in India’s competitiveness, a lot more needs to be done to bring an IP revolution, which will boost innovation, quality, and competitiveness. Therefore the innovation ecosystem stakeholders, namely, Industry, Startups, Academia and institutions must focus on IP as the key priority and maximize IP protection and commercialization.
- Inclusiveness as key for the Research, Innovation and Technology leadership
India has approximately 17% women directly engaged in the R&D and in scientific establishments. A concrete action planto re-energize and encourage women participation right from the elementary stage of school education will help unlock creativity and innovation. It has been well established that diverse, inclusive teams drive performance and innovation, thereby creating greater business value.
- Key Technologies for Sustainable Leadership in coming years
India is witnessing tremendous traction on key technologies that would spur this transformation. Some examples of the technology areas which could be given immediate focus are Green energy, Semiconductors design and manufacturing, Hydrogen as a fuel, Advanced materials like graphene and Nanomaterials, Genome sequencing, Space and Ocean technologies etc. Furthermore, the technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence, data security, digitization, and vaccine research, would usher the real potential of India as a cornerstone for sustainable development.
Conclusion
The proposed technology initiatives can play a significant role in promoting the culture of collaboration among various stakeholders of the technology & innovation ecosystem of India. These would help bring the required focus on technologies which are projected to be critical for India in the forthcoming years. Enhancing the investment in Research, Innovation and Technology to more than 4% in coming years could prove pivotal in synergizing various initiatives of national importance. It will integrate the complete knowledge chain of Technology thereby helping achieve the mission of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
Indeed, as we move ahead as a nation in this journey, our startups and entrepreneurs – both men and women – would create a multiplier effect towards generating an inclusive and vibrant ecosystem. The sum total of opportunities for the country in the ongoing decade, the vibrant Start-ups ecosystem and the talent of its youth, including women, would help India realize its aspiration for Sustainable leadership in Research, Innovation and Technology.
(Views expressed are personal. The author is Chairman of CII National Mission on Research, Innovation and Technology and former CEO & MD of Ashok Leyland and JCB India.)
