Principal Scientific Adviser Unveils Report on Research & Development (R&D) Organizations | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Principal Scientific Adviser Unveils Report on Research & Development (R&D) Organizations

Posted 30 Apr 2025

2 min read

The Report "Evaluation of Innovation Excellence Indicators of Public Funded R&D Organizations", is aimed at benchmarking & enhancing innovation performance across India’s publicly funded research ecosystem

Key Highlights of the Report

  • India's Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD): It has doubled from Rs. 60,200 crores in 2010–11 to Rs. 1,27,400 crores in 2020–21.
    • Major contributions: Came from the Central Government (43.7%), followed by Private Sector, Higher Education, and State Governments.
  • Socio-economic Impact: Public R&D labs/institutes are harnessing digital technologies (e.g., IoT sensors, drones and big data analytics) to create solutions.
    • E.g., Development of new genotypes (underlying genetic blueprint) that enhance farmer incomes.
  • Engagement with Startup Ecosystem: Number of labs engaging in incubation process remains low.
    • E.g., Only about one in four public-funded R&D organisations give incubation support to start-ups and only one in six provide support to ‘deep tech’ startups.
  • Limited Collaboration and Access to Facilities: E.g., Only 15% collaborated with industry overseas and only half of them opened their facilities to outside researchers.

Recommendations

  • Labs should align their mandates with Viksit Bharat goals, focusing on critical technologies.
  • Foster industry collaborations to enhance innovation.
  • Open research facilities to external researchers and students.
  • Increase support for deep-tech startups, including setting up Section 8 companies.

About India's R&D ecosystem

  • India spent 0.64% of its GDP on R&D in 2020–21Most of the developed countries spent more than 2% of their GDP on R&D.
  • WIPO Report 2022: India is ranked at 7th position in terms of Resident Patent Filing activity in the world.
  • Initiatives by the Government:
    • Impacting Research Innovation & Technology (IMPRINT): It provides solutions to the most relevant engineering challenges.
    • Research Park: Provide an interface between entrepreneurship and Industry to establish their R&D units.
  • Tags :
  • Deep tech start ups
  • GERD
  • R&D ecosystem
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