Principal Scientific Adviser Releases Report on Public R&D Innovation Excellence

1. The report titled “Evaluation of Innovation Excellence Indicators of Public Funded R&D Organizations” has been released by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
2. The objective of the report is to benchmark and improve innovation performance across publicly funded research institutions in India.

Key Highlights of the Report

1. India’s Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) has doubled from Rs 60,200 crore in 2010–11 to Rs 1,27,400 crore in 2020–21.
2. The Central Government contributed the highest share of GERD at 43.7%, followed by the Private Sector, Higher Education Institutions, and State Governments.

Socio-Economic Impact of Public R&D

1. Public R&D labs are leveraging emerging technologies like IoT sensors, drones, and big data analytics to deliver impactful solutions.
2. Example: Development of new genotypes (genetic blueprints) that have improved farm productivity and increased farmer incomes.

Engagement with Startup Ecosystem: Still Limited

1. Engagement with startups remains low despite increasing innovation potential.
2. Only 25% of public R&D organizations support startup incubation.
3. A mere 16% support deep-tech startups, which are critical for frontier innovation.

Gaps in Collaboration and Facility Sharing

1. Only 15% of R&D institutions collaborate with international industries for research initiatives.
2. Just 50% of labs provide open access to their research facilities for external researchers or students.

Key Recommendations from the Report

1. Public R&D labs should align their focus with Viksit Bharat (Developed India) goals and national technology priorities.
2. Promote greater industry collaboration to drive applied innovation and technology translation.
3. Expand facility access to academic institutions, startups, and researchers across India.
4. Scale up support for deep-tech startups, including the creation of Section 8 (not-for-profit) companies for incubation.

 

Overview of India’s R&D Ecosystem

1. India’s R&D spending in 2020–21 was just 0.64% of GDP, significantly lower than the 2%+ benchmark in most developed countries.
2. According to the WIPO 2022 Report, India ranks 7th globally in Resident Patent Filing activity, indicating rising innovation potential.

Government Initiatives Boosting R&D

1. IMPRINT (Impacting Research Innovation and Technology) provides engineering-based solutions to address national development challenges.
2. Research Parks are being developed to facilitate industry-academia linkages and enable industries to set up R&D units within academic ecosystems.