17 August 2022 – The Hindu

Research and Development in India

Introduction:

• Data from UNESCO show that more than US $1.7 trillion has been spent globally on research and development (R&D). This illustrates how crucial R&D is to contemporary economies. Countries are now putting a lot of emphasis on their R&D initiatives in an effort to obtain a competitive edge in a world that is increasingly driven by technology.
• India also intends to take use of this area, however experts have raised concern over the sector’s meagre funding. It lags far behind its international competitors and might eventually lose a large chunk of the innovation market. This justifies raising R&D spending and taking further supporting measures, which would be included in the article.

How much money is now being spent on research and development?

• Gross domestic spending on research and development (GERD) as a share of GDP is around 0.7%. The percentage of spending has been trending decreasing over the past few years.
• According to a study (2020) created by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), DRDO (31.6%), the Departments of Space (19%), and Atomic Energy (10.8%) collectively received 61.4% of the budget allotted to R&D in 2017–18. Only 0.9% was allotted for R&D in electronics, IT, and renewable energy, compared to about 37% for general R&D organisations like the ICAR, CSIR, DST, DBT, ICMR, etc.

In the Budget 2022–2023, the following provisions have been made:

• First, 25% of the defence budget will be set aside for such operations, opening up defence R&D to industry, startups, and academics.
• Finding new prospects in fields like artificial intelligence, drones and geospatial systems, semiconductors, space, genomics and medicines, green energy, and clean transportation systems is the second step.

How does India compare to other nations in terms of performance?

• In compared to the wealthy nations and the rising economic giants of East Asia, India spends very little (just 0.66% of the GDP). In actuality, India spends less on R&D than Low and Middle Income Countries do.
• Defense-related research and development is carried out by the private sector in the majority of industrialised capitalist nations. In India, this expenditure is mostly borne by public funding.
• In wealthy nations compared to India, joint public-private research collaborations are far larger in scope and quantity.

Why should we concentrate on R&D?

• Productivity and Economic Growth: In today’s digital economies, technology is the major engine of growth. R&D aids in the creation of new technologies or increases the effectiveness of current procedures (like enhancing resource use efficiency). Increasing R&D investment would enhance research outputs and support economic expansion.
• Low-cost indigenous remedies: R&D is needed to develop solutions specifically for the Indian populace, solutions that are affordable and easily accessible to the underprivileged, such as the Jaipur Foot.
• Improve Learning Outcomes: In higher education settings where there is a strong culture of research and knowledge production, the finest teaching and learning take place. The results of the top colleges in the world, like Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, and others, attest to this.
• Reducing Imports: India spends a lot of money purchasing expensive technology from nations like the US, South Korea, and other places, which drives up the cost of imports and widens the budget imbalance.
• Responding to Emergencies: India responded appropriately to the Covid 19 epidemic because it already had a solid foundation for producing vaccines at affordable prices. This made it possible for them to collaborate with other nations and businesses to organise immunizations for the Indian populace. One example is the Covishield vaccine, which was developed by the Serum Institute in collaboration with Oxford University and the Astrazeneca corporation. Additionally, Covaxin was created locally in India through a collaboration between the ICMR, the National Institute of Virology, and the commercial company Bharat Biotech.
• National Security: Modern digital economies are more susceptible to espionage and cyberattacks when they depend on other nations for their R&D requirements. A word of warning has been issued by experts regarding the usage of semiconductor chips imported from China. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, India continues to be one of the world’s top importers of defence products.
• Climate Change: The IPCC’s Sixth Report issued a warning to the world about the impending climate change. This justifies developing eco-friendly technology to lower GHG emissions, such as making affordable solar panels, electric vehicles, lithium batteries, etc.

What actions has the government made to promote R&D?

• National Research Foundation: A National Research Foundation was recommended under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. (NRF). The goal is to provide funding for university, college, and other higher education institution grant applications that have undergone competitive, peer evaluation.
• IMPRINT initiative: The pan-IIT and IISc cooperative partnership is known as the IMPacting Research, INnovation and Technology (IMPRINT) plan. The programme was introduced in 2015. By converting knowledge into workable technology in 10 chosen technical disciplines, it seeks to address the most pressing engineering difficulties.
• Atal Tinkering Labs: This Niti Aayog project is under the umbrella of the Atal Innovation Mission. Young brains are encouraged to be curious, imaginative, and creative, and skills like design mentality, computational thinking, adaptive learning, etc. are inculcated.
• IPR Laws: The most comprehensive international agreement on intellectual property is the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) (IP). India, a TRIPS member, has established local IPR legislation to promote IPR production and prevent its infringement.

What challenges does the R&D sector face?

• Low Financing: Less than 1% of the GDP is allocated to funding. Additionally, there are no additional R&D provisions in the sunrise industries.
• Delay in Disbursal: The finance minister suggested allocating Rs 50,000 crore to NRF over the following five years in her budget address of 2021. However, there was no such provision in the actual budget.
• High Grant Dependence: Under their extramural funding structure, several institutions are dependent on the DST, DBT, ICMR, and CSIR. Because of this dependence, it becomes difficult to do doctoral-level research when public universities receive less money.
• Lack of Skilled Personnel: Many burgeoning fields now lack sufficient competence. Additionally, our nation’s top talent leaves the country for other nations since they lack the necessary ecology for high-caliber research, which results in brain drain.
• IPR violation: This poses a significant obstacle to developing anything original and creative. Furthermore, a lack of IPR compliance deters international investment in R&D.
• Outdated Pedagogy and Curriculum: The curriculum at many colleges still emphasises rote learning and is only focused on helping students find employment. Due to the lack of emphasis on R&D, many institutions are unable to effectively use the research money that has been given to them.
• Fiscal Deficit: The Covid 19 effect was the main cause of the nation’s 9.3% deficit in 2020–21. Due to the primary focus being on lowering the budget deficit, increased funding for R&D is hindered by the significant deficit.
• Poor Private Sector Participation: The Private Sector accounts for 37% of the Nation’s Total R&D Spending. It is far less than the typical 68% investment made by private players in industrialised nations.

What actions may be made to increase R&D?

• First, more money should be budgeted for research and development. According to Economic Survey 2020-21, the nation should raise its GERD from 0.7% to above 2% of GDP.
• Joint R&D initiatives involving governmental institutions and start-ups/industries can also be funded with larger budgets.
• Second, the nation has to concentrate on correctly implementing programmes like Make in India and Atma Nirbhar Bharat. As the nation’s industrial sector grows, the private sector will increase its R&D expenditures.
• Third, the Rs 50,000 crore pledged to create NRF might be utilised right now to make up any shortfalls in the funding given to autonomous universities and institutions by the CSIR, DST, and other organisations.
• In order to improve information exchange, a virtual platform that would include all the data on the projects funded by public funds might be created.
• Fifth, leveraging India’s soft power, 5,000 students and scientists need to receive PhD and postdoctoral training in the world’s top labs during the next five years. Additionally, post-doctoral work in India should be promoted by paying the young researchers greater salaries.
• Sixth, the National IPR policy of 2016 should be faithfully followed to win over investors and draw additional funding for R&D.
• Seventh, to boost India’s R&D Ecosystem, the government should encourage industry, government, and academic collaboration. The creation of Covaxin is a prime example, and the lessons learned from it may be applied to other industries such as green technology, defence, and electronics production.

Conclusion:

• It would need work on several fronts, including increased funding allocation, to shift from stagnation in R&D to a more vibrant ecosystem. Departments of science and technology will need to figure out ways to hasten decision-making, information-sharing, and give researchers more freedom in how they use the funding. This would be the ideal course of action to cultivate a culture of curiosity and inquisitiveness throughout the nation.