Much-needed Thrust in R&D
In a welcome departure from the past, India has decided to fund research and development (R&D) in a big way like the developed nations
- In
a welcome departure from the past, India has decided to fund research and
development (R&D) in a big way like the developed nations. It may be
mentioned here that so far India’s spending in this crucial sector was just
0.65 per cent of GDP, while countries like the United States (US) and China
allocate two per cent of GDP. It seems India has now consciously taken a
decision to enhance funding in this sector to fulfill its dream of becoming a
developed nation in the next two decades. For this, the country has decided to
create a fund of INR one lakh crore to boost research activities both in the
public and private sectors. In this regard, an organisation named Anusandhan
National Research Foundation has been formed with an aim to promote R&D and
foster a culture of research and innovation across universities and research
institutions. Now, it is certain that grant-based research schemes will no longer
be favoured; instead funds will be allocated based on the commercial
viabilities of the projects. If the change in government’s attitude brings the
desired results, India may be able to catch up with the developed nations in this
sector and reduce dependency.
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- However,
many hurdles can come in the way of this pursuit. Firstly, research activities
are largely confined to the government sector because of lukewarm response from
the private sector. The private sector operating in India should fund more
generously in R&D like their counterparts in China which invests nearly 75
per cent of the total spending in this regard. Thus, with only 30 to 36 per
cent contribution from the private sector in the total spending, India faces a
steep challenge to match with the developed nations in this sector. This trend
has to be changed at the earliest. The private sector should realise the benefit
of investing in R&D in partnership with the government, rather than
pleading with foreign companies for their latest technologies. Hopefully, the
fund created by the government will change the mindset of the private sector
regarding R&D.
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- Bureaucratic
hurdle is another aspect which should be removed if the country wants to make a
substantial progress in R&D. It has been found many a time that important
research proposals did not get necessary clearance for want of requisite
knowledge among the bureaucrats. This has hampered the progress of R&D in
the country to a great extent. The best way to remove this hurdle is to involve
more academicians in the decision-making panel, so that research proposals can
be cleared on merit basis without wasting time. The number of patents filed by
Indians clearly indicates that there is no dearth of potentials in the country
but we have failed to exploit these potentials effectively due to lack of
proper funding.
