Innovations also referred to as the engine of growth, are frequently the results of activities or expenditures used to produce knowledge. Long-term productivity, economic development, and competitiveness are all largely dependent on the R&D process. The company’s R&D activities boost its innovation performance. Even if businesses attempt to keep freshly created information to themselves in order to fully profit from its commercial advantages, this may not always be practically possible. Knowledge spillovers are the broad term for the advantages gained by competing companies as a result of externalities. Some of the information that is generated leaks out in the form of externalities with potential benefits for competing businesses. R&D spillovers include both unintentional and intentional sharing of practical technical knowledge.
In terms of scientific research and technical advancement, India falls behind nations like the US and China. The number of research papers is far lower than in other countries. In comparison to China and the United States, which boasted 1,096 and 4,217 researchers per million inhabitants, respectively, India had 156 researchers per million residents as of 2018, which was much lower than the worldwide average of 1,500. In terms of the number of articles published between 2012 and 2016, India came in sixth place, generating one-fourth as many as China and one-fifth as many as the United States. India placed 12th in the same time frame in terms of citations obtained during 2012-2016.
Similarly, when comparing the percentage of the GDP that the top 5 countries spend on Research & Development compared to India’s expenditure on R&D, it is evident that this factor plays a major role in deciding how innovative a particular country is. The top 5 countries have an average expenditure of 2.6% of their GDP whereas for India it is a mere 0.65%, while the US invests 2.7% and China invests 2%. The private sector contributes less than 40% to GERD, whereas its contribution goes beyond 70% in other advanced countries. India’s Research and development investment is dominated by the public sector.
Which nations have the most advanced technology systems in the world is largely dependent on innovation. Trends in innovation are linked to several financial, industrial, economic, and social indices. Adequate statistical data reflecting all aspects of innovation and Research and Development.
On the positive, low Research & Development doesn’t seem to have a very significant effect on India’s progress. India ranks 46th out of 132 countries in the 2021 Global Innovation Index report, the most significant jump by any major economy.
India’s rank has significantly improved in most of the indicators used by the Global Innovation Index. A factor such as the percentage of GDP spent on Research & Development, which is a driver of innovation and represents the national position of a country is an important factor taken into consideration while calculating the Global Innovation Index.
Also, India is the only Asian country that has ranked 50th in the Bloomberg Innovation Index 2022. The Bloomberg Innovation index categories are so broad and comprehensive, that the analysis is often interpreted not only as a measure of economic innovation but of innovation as a whole. So there is a positive momentum in innovation but it needs the help of research in basic, and applied sciences.
The startups in India have grown remarkably over the last six years. The number of newly recognized startups has increased to over 14,000 in 2021-22 from 733 in 2016-17. As a result, India has become the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world after the US and China. Further, a record 44 Indian startups have achieved unicorn status in 2021 and 17 unicorns with a total valuation of $ 22.00 Billion were born in 2022, taking the overall tally of unicorns in India to 103 unicorns with a total valuation of $ 335.80 Billion 83 as of 29th June 2022, most of these are in the services sector.
It cannot be doubted that Science and technology play a very crucial role in nation-building. Modern scientific advancements are highly collaborative, interdisciplinary, and resource intensive. India, to achieve its goal of breakthrough scientific technologies and innovations, which would not only improve the lives of its citizens but also help the country in capacity building with its finite resources has come up with a cluster-driven framework for its roadmap to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025
The aim is to bring together or cluster academia, research institutes, industry members, MSMEs, start-up communities, philanthropic institutions, and local administration to create and share a collaborative ecosystem, become regional solution providers, and provide national and global competitiveness. Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi NCR, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, and Bengaluru form part of this Science and Technology cluster.
The number of innovations has increased in the Department of Science and Technology from 468 in 2018-19 to 937 in 2021-2022.
The number of publications and patents granted (Autonomous institutions, department of Science and Technology) has also increased. On the other hand, the number of Ph.D producers declined in 2020-21 and 2021-2022.
India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally. Indian pharmaceutical sector supplies over 50% of global demand for various vaccines, 40% of generic demand in the US, and 25% of all medicine in the UK.
In FY 2019-20, Out of the total exports, 34% are in North America, 17% of the exports are in Africa and 15% are in the EU.
India's EVs are considered the key to the auto industry's future and economic growth. With the current climate change and worries about it, EVs are set to take over as the industry's mainstay in the years to come. The EV industry's importance and impending growth are already attracting investments in the sector. In 2021, it had around $6 Billion in investments, which is expected to increase to $20 Billion by 2030.
