India’s Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) is 0.6-0.7 per cent of GDP. While India’s present ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII) is 38th, it has risen significantly from 81st in 2015 to 38th in 2025. The Government has taken several measures to increase the R&D expenditure to make India emerge as a high-tech manufacturing hub. These include:
- Progressive increase in budget allocations for scientific departments and research-oriented programmes.
- Launch of ₹1.0 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund.
- Establishment of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) with a budgetary provision of Rs. 14,000 crore from Central Government and mobilizing additional funding from non-governmental sources.
- Launch of National Missions such as National Quantum Missions (budget outlay: Rs. 6,003.65 crore), National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (budget outlay Rs. 3,660 crore), India Semiconductor Mission (budget outlay Rs. 76,000 crore), National Supercomputing Mission, etc.
- Promotion of Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) and creation of Technology Hubs under National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems and National Quantum Mission to foster collaborative technology development.
- Implementation of Technology-led innovation programmes such as: National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI), Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) programmes, Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and TIDE 2.0 (Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs) to strengthen India’s innovation-to-manufacturing pipeline by supporting indigenous technology development, prototyping, scale-up, and industry linkages, thereby reducing dependence on imported technologies.
- Introduction of enabling policy frameworks such as: the Geospatial Policy 2022, Space Policy 2023, and BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) Policy 2024 with the provisions for increased participation from private sector.
- Strengthening commercialization of innovations from national laboratories and research institutes through the Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), incubation centers, public–private partnerships, and structured licensing models; etc.
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NKR/AK