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Development of science and technology in India
1.0 Introduction
Department of Science & Technology (DST) was established in May 1971, with the objective of promoting new areas of Science & Technology and to play the role of a nodal department for organising, coordinating and promoting S&T activities in the country. It functions as the nodal agency to connect science and technology sector to Government verticals. DST provides the largest extramural research and development support in the country to strengthen national S&T capacity and capability through a competitive mode to scientists cutting across institutions and disciplines. This strategically important function mutually reinforces outcomes of our country’s educational, scientific and industrial R&D initiatives and helps transform the S&T landscape of the country.
Mandate
DST has the following as the mandate and major responsibilities :
- Formulation of policies relating to Science and Technology (S&T)
- Matters relating to the Scientific Advisory Committee to Cabinet (SAC-C)
- Promotion of new areas of S&T with special emphasis on emerging areas
The Department has major responsibilities for specific projects and programmes as listed below:
- Formulation of policies relating to Science and Technology
- Matters relating to the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Cabinet (SACC)
- Promotion of new areas of Science and Technology with special emphasis on emerging areas
- Research and Development through its research institutions or laboratories for development of indigenous technologies concerning bio-fuel production, processing, standardization and applications, in co-ordination with the concerned Ministry or Department
- Research and Development activities to promote utilization of by-products to development value added chemicals
Futurology : Coordination and integration of areas of Science & Technology having cross-sectoral linkages in which a number of institutions and departments have interest and capabilities.
- Undertaking or financially sponsoring scientific and technological surveys, research design and development, where necessary
- Support and Grants-in-aid to Scientific Research Institutions, Scientific Associations and Bodies
- All matters concerning: Science and Engineering Research Council; Technology Development Board and related Acts such as the Research and Development Cess Act,1986 (32 of 1986) and the Technology
- Development Board Act,1995 (44 of 1995); National Council for Science and Technology Communication; etc.
- Matters concerning domestic technology particularly the promotion of ventures involving the commercialization of such technology other than those under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
- All other measures needed for the promotion of science and technology and their application to the development and security of the nation
- Matters relating to institutional Science and Technology capacity building including setting up of new institutions and institutional infrastructure
- Promotion of Science and Technology at the State, District, and Village levels for grass- roots development through State Science and Technology Councils and other mechanisms
- Application of Science and Technology for weaker sections, women and other disadvantaged sections of Society
1.1 National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NSDAP)
Large volumes and different types of data, including some of scientific and technical relevance are generated and compiled by various arms of the Government of India and various State Governments for meeting their specific requirements. Scientific organizations generate data and develop scientific data bases deploying huge public funds. Since such data are not generated under any standardized format, inter-operability of both scientific and technical data poses a serious challenge. Global experience has demonstrated convincingly that access to data leads to breakthroughs in scientific understanding as well as to economic and public good, in addition to several benefits to civil society. Given the deployment of substantial level of investment of public funds in collection of data and the untapped potentials of benefits to social society, it has become important to make available non-sensitive data for legitimate and registered use.
Keeping in view the emphasis of the Government on engaging citizens in Governance Reforms, placing of non-strategic data in public domain and the provisions of RTI Act 2005 for empowering the citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authority leading to the transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the National Policy on Data Sharing and Accessibility (NPDSA) was brought. The National Policy will increase the accessibility and easier sharing of non-sensitive data amongst the registered users and their availability for scientific, economic and social developmental purposes.
Dept. of Science & Technology (DST) would be the Nodal Department for all matters connected with overall co-ordination, formulation, implementation and monitoring of the policy. For Geospatial Data, existing National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) mechanism involving both Department of Space and Department of Science & Technology would be used for any conflict resolution. Ministries/Departments of Government of India while releasing funds to State Governments and other Institutions including Central/State Universities put down a condition, the data generated using such funds would come under the purview of this Policy.
2.0 Brief history of technology in India
India has a long and proud scientific tradition. Nehru, in his Discovery of India wrote that Indian mathematicians had developed geometric theorems before Pythagoras and were using advanced methods of determining the number of mathematical combinations by the second century B.C. By the fifth century A.D., Indian mathematicians were using ten numerals and by the seventh century were treating zero as a number. The conceptualization of squares, rectangles, circles, triangles, fractions, the ability to express the number ten to the twelfth power, algebraic formulas, and astronomy had even more ancient origins in Vedic literature, some of which was compiled as early as 1500 B.C. The concepts of astronomy, metaphysics, and perennial movement are all embodied in the Rig Veda. Although such abstract concepts were further developed by the ancient Greeks and the Indian numeral system was popularized in the first millennium A.D. by the Arabs (the Arabic word for number, Nehru pointed out, is hindsah, meaning “from Hind (India)”), their Indian origins are a source of national pride.
Technological discoveries have been made relating to pharmacology, brain surgery, medicine, artificial colors and glazes, metallurgy, recrystalization, chemistry, the decimal system, geometry, astronomy, and language and linguistics (systematic linguistic analysis having originated in India with Panini’s fourth-century B.C. Sanskrit grammar, the Ashtadhyayi). These discoveries have led to practical applications in brick and pottery making, metal casting, distillation, surveying, town planning, hydraulics, the development of a lunar calendar, and the means of recording these discoveries as early as the era of Harappan culture (ca. 2500-1500 B.C.)
The technology of textile production, hydraulic engineering, water-powered devices, medicine, and other innovations, as well as mathematics and other theoretical sciences, continued to develop and be influenced by techniques brought in from the Muslim world by the Mughals after the fifteenth century.
The practical applications of scientific and technical developments are witnessed, for example, by the proliferation of hundreds of thousands of water tanks for irrigation in South India by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Although each tank was built through local efforts, together, in effect, they created a closely integrated network supplying water throughout the region.
The science of metallurgy led to the construction of numerous small but sophisticated furnaces for producing iron and steel. By the late eighteenth century, it is estimated that production capability may have reached 2,00,000 tons per year. An achivement indeed!
High levels of textile production – making India the world’s leading producer and exporter of textiles before 1800 – were the result of refinements in spinning technology. [ The British totally captured the world market post their industrial revolution. ]
In the field of astronomy, the Jantar Mantar complexes were used to determine the seasons, phases of the moon and sun, and locations of stars and planets from points in Delhi, Mathura, Jaipur, Varanasi, and Ujjain. The Jantar Mantars were designed and built by a renowned astronomer and city planner, Sawai Jai Singh II, the maharajah of Amber, between 1725 and 1734, after he was asked by Mohammad Shah, the tenth Mughal emperor, to reform the calendar. These complexes had the patronage of the Mughal emperors and have long attracted the attention of Western scholars and travelers, some of whom have found them anachronistic in light of the use of telescopes in Europe and China more than a century before Jai Singh’s projects.
The arrival of the British in India in the early seventeenth century – the Portuguese, Dutch, and French also had a presence, although it was much less pervasive – led eventually to new scientific developments that added to the indigenous achievements of the previous millennia. Although colonization subverted much of Indian culture, turning the region into a source of raw materials for the factories of England and France and leaving only low-technology production to local entrepreneurs, a new organization was brought to science in the form of the British education system. Science education under British rule (by the East India Company from 1757 to 1857 and by the British government from 1858 to 1947) initially involved only rudimentary mathematics, but as greater exploitation of India took place, there was more need for surveying and medical schools to train indigenous people to assist Europeans in their explorations and research. What new technologies were implemented were imported rather than developed indigenously, however, and it was only during the immediate pre-independence period that Indian scientists came to enjoy political patronage and support for their work.
One of the most famous scientists of the pre- and post independence era was Indian-trained Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, an ardent nationalist, prolific researcher, and writer of scientific treatises on the molecular scattering of light and other subjects of quantum mechanics. In 1930 Raman was awarded the Nobel prize in physics for his 1928 discovery of the Raman Effect, which demonstrates that the energy of a photon can undergo partial transformation within matter. In 1934-36, with his colleague Nagendra Nath, Raman propounded the Raman-Nath Theory on the diffraction of light by ultrasonic waves. He was a director of the Indian Institute of Science and founded the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1934 and the Raman Research Institute in 1948.
Another leading scientist was Homi Jehangir Bhabha, an eminent physicist internationally recognized for his contributions to the fields of positron theory, cosmic rays, and physics at the University of Cambridge in Britain. In 1945, with financial assistance from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Bhabha established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay.
Other eminent pre-independence scientists include Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, a Cambridge-educated Bengali physicist who discovered the application of electromagnetic waves to wireless telegraphy in 1895 and then went on to a second notable career in biophysical research.
Meghnad Saha, also from Bengal, was trained in India, Britain, and Germany and became an internationally recognized nuclear physicist whose mathematical equations and ionization theory gave new insight into the functions of stellar spectra. In the late 1930s, Saha began promoting the importance of science to national economic modernization, a concept fully embraced by Nehru and several generations of government planners.
The Bose-Einstein Statistics, used in quantum physics, and Boson particles are named after another leading scientist, mathematician Satyendranath Bose. S.N. Bose was trained in India, and his research discoveries gave him international fame and an opportunity for advanced studies in France and Germany. In 1924 he sent the results of his research on radiation as a form of gas to Albert Einstein. Einstein extended Bose’s statistical methods to ordinary atoms, which led him to predict a new state of matter–called the Bose-Einstein Condensation–that was scientifically proved in United States laboratory experiments in 1995.
Prafulla Chandra Ray, another Bengali, earned a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from the University of Edinburgh in 1887 and went on to a devoted career of teaching and research. His work was instrumental in establishing the chemical industry in Bengal in the early twentieth century.
The Green Revolution, educational improvement, establishment of hundreds of scientific laboratories, industrial and military research, massive hydraulic projects, and entry into the frontiers of space all evolved after independence to embrace high technology.
One of the early planning documents was the Scientific Policy Resolution of 1958, which called for embracing “by all appropriate means, the cultivation of science and scientific research in all its aspects–pure, applied, and educational” and encouraged individual initiatives. In 1983 the government issued a similar statement, which, while stressing the importance of international cooperation and the diffusion of scientific knowledge, put considerable emphasis on self-reliance and the development of indigenous technology.
3.0 ASPECTS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA
3.1 Science and technology policy statements
Science and Technology Policy Statements (STPs) are the policy tools for the Government of India for stating technology policy objectives and approaches.Since Independence, three TPS have been issued in 1958, 1983 and 2003. The 1958 statement was called as Science Policy Statement (SPS) while that of 1983 as Technology Policy Statement (TPS) and that of 2003 as Science and Technology Policy Statement (STPS). The 2003 document has acknowledged the importance of linking up modern technology with indigenous knowledge base. Three major concerns which drove specific S&T policies in India were: Science for National Development and Security; Self Reliance and Building ‘Scientific Temper’.
3.2 Indian Constitution: Scientific temper
Under Article 51A, developing scientific temper is one of the fundamental duties of a citizen of the country. Fundamental duties are of voluntary in nature and cannot be enforced by law or through courts as obligations of the citizens towards state or society. The Directive Principles are more like wish lists indicated by framers of the Constitution who gave importance to economic freedom and social freedom of the citizens of the country. Although the Principles are silent about science, it can be inferred that the objectives of S&T policy cannot go against them and should facilitate realizing the objectives mentioned in the Principles. For example, since the Principles give importance to the betterment of conditions of women and children, it can be construed that S&T policies framed with this objective in mind are desirable.
3.3 Public perception analysis
Science popularization in India had a long history but organizations and movements at the interface of science and society were formed only in the late 1960s. Public opposition to the projects such as Silent Valley Project was also articulated by them. Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) a pioneering peoples’ science movement got established in 1962. Activist groups and similar movements came together in 1985 and identified issues of common concern and interest which resulted in the formation of All India Peoples Science Network (AIPSN).
Later, a national level action plan known as ‘Jan Vigyan Jatha’ was chalked out around three themes: Science for the People, Science for the Nation and Science for Discovery. Understanding of Science in India is complicated further by wide disparities in literacy, access to information, and other variations in the human development indicators. Radio and Television were under state control for many years and only in the last 20 years has the private sector made rapid strides in this. Agricultural programs were given exclusive slots in the government controlled media. NISTADS with AIPSN undertook surveys on- Public Attitudes and Understanding of Science (PAUS), for study of interface between science, technology and society.
Based on a questionnaire, interviews were conducted in Mangolpuri, Delhi (1991), Ardh-Kumbh, Allahabad (1995), and Nepal (1996). The results of these surveys have not been consolidated and presented in a single publication. The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) commissioned a study to National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) to produce India Science Report (2003-2004) for understanding public attitude towards science through a primary survey. A questionnaire based survey was done. The, sample size was very limited and there have been no subsequent studies based on this questionnaire. This survey is an interesting attempt to map perception on science and technology. But it has not been taken up further nor has it been repeated in the later years. So it is difficult to extrapolate its findings and correlate this with any other study.
3.4 India Science Report: Results
TV constitutes the leading source of information, followed by radio. Television enjoys the credibility and confidence of about 75% of the participants but the illiterate have the least confidence in this medium.
Indians perceive science and technology of great utility and 77% of the participants felt that S&T made lives easier and healthier but positive perception towards mechanization is low. But more than 60% consider that new technology makes work more interesting.
Hence it can be inferred that public resistance to science and technology is not high.
3.5 Survey of scientists
A survey of Indian scientists (1100 PhD holders) was conducted in 2007-2008 on Worldviews and Opinions of Scientists, by Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, Trinity College, U.S.A. The participants were from 130 institutions including IITs at Kanpur, Khargpur, Madras and Bombay and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
Findings:
In their view scientists were well respected in India but they thought that scientific literacy in India was low. 64% of the participants stated that they would refuse to work on development of biological weapons, while 54% took the same stand on nuclear weapons. Those who opposed genetic engineering and stem cell research were less than 10%. Most of them (59%) considered themselves to be secular, 50% thought that homeopathy was efficacious. In the absence of studies on perceptions of scientists this study is a welcome addition to the literature.
But this study’s approach is limited and many of the questions are directed towards their perceptions on science and religion. Hence this does not tell us much about their views on policy and public understanding of science. The full results again have not been made public.
3.6 Ethics and policy focus
Under Science and Society Programme specific schemes were initiated with a view to benefit young scientists. Gender specific programmes, Science and Technology Application for Weaker Sections (STAWS) and Technology Transfer for Tribal Development (TTTD) were also initiated with projects for reducing their drudgery of work in the rural areas. In this respect the Science and Technology Application for Rural Development (STARD) is a major scheme. The Science and Society Programme also identified role for voluntary agencies in the field of S&T for generating and demonstrating technologies to increase productivity in the professions of weaker sections of the society, for example in pottery, tanning and agriculture related activities. Planning Commission Seminar on New Technologies held in 1986 helped in evolving a new mechanism called Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC), which placed Department of Science and Technology in a nodal role for promoting S&T through various line Ministries. The STAC mechanism covers 24 socio-economic ministries.
In 2003, a Inter-Sectoral Science and Technology Advisory Committee (IS-STAC) was set up to provide a forum for the Member Secretaries of STACs, other scientists and technologists to share the expertise and experience and provide additional tools in decision making processes vis-à-vis socio-economic development. DST formed a new consolidated programme ‘Science for Equity, Empowerment and Development (SEED) for providing technology solutions for challenges in rural and urban areas for the disadvantaged sections of the society. SEED emphasises on linking advance national laboratories with local S&T labs for encouraging interaction and initiatives for solving local challenges. As a part of SEED programme, grant in aid projects are given to the grass root organisations particularly the ones working for improving quality of life of artisans, landless labour, women and other disadvantaged sections particularly in rural areas. In this, their skills are upgraded and they are linked with advanced laboratories on site solutions.
In the 12th plan the government launched a special Scheme titled “Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research” (INSPIRE) as an effort to attract students to pursue S&T. As a part of INSPIRE, one million young students would be supported across various states and they would be encouraged for spending time with Science icons at Summer Camps.
4.1 Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC)
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued a “Policy Statement on Ethical issues involving humans in biomedical research” in 1980 which suggested all institutions involved in clinical research should set up an institutional ethics committee and elaborated on the structure and function of these committees. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) under the Drugs and Cosmetic Act 1964 issued the GCP guidelines for establishment of institutional ethics committees in 2001. Hence, several institutions came up with institutional ethics committees for clinical trials. There is a proposal now for mandatory registration of institutional ethics committees.
4.2 Central Ethics Committee on Human Research (CECHR)
ICMR is leading India’s research programme through its Central Ethics Committee on Human Research (CECHR), which was established in 1996. There is a proposed bill before the Indian Parliament for establishing Biomedical Research Authority (BRA) for providing overarching framework in the area of biomedical research. This is part of the Biomedical Research on Human Subjects (Promotion and Regulation) Bill, 2006. The proposed bill would imply renaming of CECHR as the National Ethics Committee (NEC). The ICMR had initially evolved and implemented ‘Ethical Guidelines on Research Involving Human Subjects’ in 1980, which was revised in 2000 and later in 2006, which is eventually taking the form of the bill to be placed before the Parliament.The amendments in the guidelines tried to respond to the fast changing technological context and evolving business partnerships and ethical concerns in this area.
4.3 National Bioethics Committee
The Department of Biotechnology of Government of India established a National Bioethics Committee (NBC) in 1999. The Committee in 2003 recommended that no reproductive cloning shall be permitted, however, in view of the potential utility of therapeutic cloning the same can be approved on the merit of each case.
4.4 Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA)
CPCSEA was established by the Ministry of Environment and Forest for regulating experiments on animals, under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals act of 1960. The Breeding and Experiments on Animals (Control and Supervision) rules were notified in 1998, with amendments in 2001 and then in 2005.
Under the Breeding and Experiments on Animals rules, the concerned institution is required to constitute Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC) and get it registered with CPCSEA, get their animal house inspected and also set their specific projects for research cleared by IAEC and CPCSEA for large animals etc. The CPCSEA also requires registration of IAEC for carrying out experiments on small animals. There are 1600 registered IAECs in India. It works with the mandate to ensure that person duly qualified in animal science under his/her responsibility should be performing the experiment. The experiments on larger animals are avoided when it is possible to achieve the same results by experiments upon small laboratory animals like guinea-pigs, rabbits, mice, rats etc.
4.5 National Apex Committee for Stem Cell Research and Therapy
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) evolved the Stem Cell Research and Therapy guidelines in 2007. The SCRT guidelines defined ethical principles for derivation, propagation, differentiation, characterization, banking and for use of human stem cell for research and therapy. The guidelines proposed to establish a National Apex Committee for Stem Cell Research and Therapy (NAC-SCRT) for review and monitoring various research initiatives.
5.0 WORLD IP ORGANISATION (WIPO)
Worldwide demand for intellectual property (IP) tools reached record heights in 2017, with China driving the growth in filings for patents, trademarks, industrial designs and other IP rights that are at the heart of the global economy.
“Demand for IP protection is rising faster than the rate of global economic growth, illustrating that IP-backed innovation is an increasingly critical component of competition and commercial activity,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.
5.1 Patents
China’s IP office received the highest number of patent applications in 2017, a record total of 1.38 million. China in 2017 refined its method for compiling statistics for patents and industrial designs applications, counting only those for which application fees have been paid. China’s IP office was followed by the offices of the United States of America (U.S.; 606,956), Japan (318,479), the Republic of Korea (204,775) and the European Patent Office (EPO; 166,585).
The top five offices accounted for 84.5% of the world total. Among these offices, China (+14.2%) and the EPO (+4.5%) saw strong growth in filings, while Japan (+0.03%) and the U.S. (+0.2%) saw negligible growth. The Republic of Korea (-1.9%) received fewer applications in 2017 than in 2016.
5.2 Trademarks
An estimated 9.11 million trademark applications covering 12.39 million classes were filed worldwide in 2017. The number of classes specified in applications grew by 26.8% in 2017, marking the eight consecutive year of growth.
The IP office of China had the highest volume of filing activity[1] with a class count of around 5.7 million, followed by the U.S. (613,921), Japan (560,269), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO; 371,508) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (358,353). Among the top 20 offices, the Islamic Republic of Iran (+87.9%) and China (+55.2%) reported high annual growth. At both of those offices, strong growth in resident filings drove the overall growth. Japan (+24.2%), the U.K. (+24.1%) and Canada (+19.5%) also saw considerable growth.
5.3 Industrial designs
An estimated 945,100 industrial design applications containing 1.24 million designs were filed worldwide in 2017.
The office of China received applications containing 628,658 designs in 2017, corresponding to 50.6% of the world total. It was followed by the EUIPO (111,021), the KIPO (67,357), Turkey (46,875) and the U.S. (45,881). Among the top 20 offices, the fastest growth in design counts occurred in the U.K. (+92.1%), Spain (+23.5%) and Switzerland (+17.9%).
5.4 Plant varieties
China became the top filing office in 2017, receiving 4,465 plant variety applications, followed by the Community Plant Variety Office of the European Union (CPVO; 3,422), the U.S. (1,557), Ukraine (1,345) and Japan (1,019). China saw a 52.8% growth in 2017. Ukraine (+5.6%), Japan (+4.3%) and CPVO (+3.7%) also saw growth while the U.S. reported a 2.9% drop in filings.
5.5 Geographical indications
In 2017, there were 59,500 geographical indications (GIs) in force worldwide. GIs are signs used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin, such as Gruyère for cheese or Tequila for spirits.
Germany (14,073) reported the largest number of GIs in force, followed by Austria (8,749), China (8,507), Hungary (6,646) and the Czech Republic (6,191). There were 4,932 European Union GIs in force in each of the EU member states.
5.6 Creative economy
Revenue generated by the three sectors (trade, educational and scientific, technical and medical) of the publishing industry of 11 countries amounted to USD 248 billion. China reported the largest net revenue (USD 202.4 billion), followed by the U.S. (USD 25.9 billion), Germany (USD 5.8 billion) and the U.K. (USD 4.7 billion).
Digital editions generated 28.3% of the total trade sector revenue in China, 23.5% in Japan, 18.4% in Sweden, 13.2% in Finland and 12.9% in the U.S.
The National investment on R&D activities attained a level of Rs. 85,326.10 crores in 2014-15. It is estimated to be Rs. 94,516.45 crores in 2015-16 and Rs. 1,04,864.03 crores in 2017-18. The major share of R&D expenditure was met from Central Government sources (45.1%); State Governments contributed 7.4%, Higher Education 3.9%, Public Sector Industries 5.5% and the remaining 38.1% from the Private Sector Industries. Nearly 5.28 lakh personnel were employed in the R&D establishments including in-house R&D units of public and private sector industries. There were 77,706 women employed in R&D establishments which work out to be 14.7% of the total manpower employed in the country in R&D establishments. Out of this, 2.83 lakh were performing R&D activities, which is 53.6% of total personnel performing R&D activities.
Some useful facts
- India ranks third among the most attractive investment destinations for technology transactions in the world
- India is among the topmost countries in the world in the field of scientific research, positioned as one of the top five nations in the field of space exploration
- Market size - India ranks 6th position for scientific publications and ranks at 10th for patents which included only resident applications
- The number of patent applications filed by the Indian scientists and inventors increased to 47,857 in FY18 from 46,904 in FY16
- India ranks 13th position at the Nature Index in 2017, based on counts of high-quality research outputs in natural sciences.
- India improved its rank on the Global Innovation Index from 81st position in 2015, India improved its ranking to 66th in 2016 and further to 60th in 2017. It was at 57 in 2018
- The Government of India is extensively promoting research parks technology business incubators (TBIs) and (RPs) which would promote the innovative ideas till they become commercial ventures
- The engineering R&D and product development market in India is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 20.55 per cent to reach US$ 45 billion by 2020 from US$ 28 billion in FY18
- As per Government records, the number of Indian scientists coming back to India to pursue research opportunities has increased from 243 in 2007-2012 to 649 between 2012 and 2017 . In the span of 5 years 649 Indian scientists have returned to pursue research opportunities
- India’s R&D investments forecasted to increase to US$ 83.27 billion in 2018 from US$ 76.91 billion in 2017
- In February 2018, the Union Cabinet has approved implementation of 'Prime Minister Research Fellows (PMRF)' scheme, which will promote the mission of development through innovation, at a total cost of Rs 1,650 crore (US$ 245.94 million) for a period of seven years beginning 2018-19
- In February 2018, Union Government of India announced grant of Rs 1,000 crore (US$ 155.55 million) for the second phase of Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT), a fund created by Department of Science and Technology and Ministry of Human Resource and Development
- The Union Budget 2019-20 - The allocation to the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has been increased by 4.03 per cent to Rs 5,321.01 crore (US$ 737.49 million) as against the previous budget.
Under the Union Budget 2019-20, the Government of India announced the largest ever allocation of Rs 12,796 crore (US$ 1.77 billion) to the Ministry of Science and Technology. The Department of Atomic Energy has been allocated Rs 16,725.51 crore (US$ 2.32 billion), an increase of 19.71 per cent against the previous budget. The Ministry of Earth Sciences was allocated Rs 1,901.76 crore (US$ 263.58 million), which is an increase of 5.65 per cent as against the previous budget.
SOME USEFUL INFORMATIVE INFOGRAPHICS
- India presents a unique opportunity for companies manufacturing technologically advanced products, registering per capita income of Rs 143,048 (US$ 1,982.65) in FY19
- An expanding middle class and rise in purchasing power of rural residents have boosted demand for innovation and development of cheap and durable products that could meet the local requirements.
- Rising per capita income in India to bring in R&D investments in the country with more and more of foreign players shifting R&D bases to India.
- Qualcomm, plans to invest US$ 8.5 million on designs initiatives in India, which would include funding its innovation labs at Hyderabad and Bangalore, for R & D
- Lower development cost, rising technology intensity and grwotin local demand for top of the line unique technology products have attracted R&D investments form foreign companies in India, making it one of the largest outsourcing provider in R&D segment.
- India ranks at 6th position for scientific publications and ranks at 10th for only resident patent applications.
- The total number of patents applications filed by scientists and investors in India increased to 47,857 in FY18 from 46,904 in FY16.
