India underspends on research and development (R&D), even relative to its level of development, highlights the Economic Survey 2017-18 released on Monday.
Even as the Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (R&D) has tripled in nominal terms over the last decade, as a fraction of the GDP, public expenditures on research have been stagnant in the last two decades, it reveals.
The survey suggests that, in order to recapture the spirit of innovation that can propel it to a global science and technology leader, India should invest in educating its youth in science and mathematics and reform the way R&D is conducted, engage the private sector and the Indian diaspora.
About three-fifths of the public investment is spread over the key government science funding agencies like Atomic Energy, Space, Earth Sciences, Science and Technology and Biotechnology. Given the country's severe health challenges, the low and virtually stagnant budget of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) is striking.
India's spending on R&D, which is just about 0.6 percent of GDP, is well below that in major nations such as the US (2.8), China (2.1), Israel (4.3) and Korea (4.2).
India should take a more mission-driven approach in areas such as dark matter, genomics, energy storage, agriculture, and mathematics and cyber physical systems. Vigorous efforts to improve the "ease of doing business" need to be matched by similar ones to boost the "ease of doing science".
The other critical input for R&D is a well-trained workforce among which PhD students, that plays an especially important role. Indian PhD students obtain their degrees either within India or abroad, especially in the United States. There are less than half as many PhD students in STEM from India in the US as from China.
Fewer Indian students have been enrolling in recent years for such degrees, whether due to more attractive options after a master's degree or rising work visa challenges.
"While India has made considerable strides in improving access to primary and secondary education, learning outcomes have been weak. This weakness denies India access to the intellect and energies of millions of young people. India needs to gradually move to have a greater share of an investigator-driven model for funding science research," it says.
R&D SPEND (% of GDP)
US – 2.8
China – 2.1
Israel – 4.3
Korea – 4.2
India – 0.6
