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NEW DELHI: India’s Gross Expenditure on Research & Development (GERD) has doubled in the last 10 years, ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over.
This was disclosed and substantiated through figures and statistics here on Thursday by the Minister for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
As per the latest available R&D statistics, the Minister stated, the national investment on Research & Development (R&D) measured in terms of Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) has been continuously increasing over the years and has more than doubled in the last 10 years.
However, India’s GERD as a percentage of GDP remained between 0.6% to 0.7% which is relatively lower than other countries like China (2.4%), USA (3.5%) and Israel (5.4%) etc. mainly due to relatively less investment by India’s private sector into GERD.
As per the Minister’s reply, the Ministry has taken several measures to increase investment in R&D, including private sector investments in R&D. Some of the key efforts include: successive increase in budget allocations, incentivizing investment by the private sector to increase their share in GERD, creating avenues for collaborative STI funding through portfolio-based funding mechanisms such as Public-Private-Partnerships and other innovative hybrid funding mechanisms. The programmes/schemes like Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT), Industry Relevant R&D (IRRD), Fund for Industrial Research Engagement (FIRE), etc have been implemented with contributions from Industry.
Dr Jitendra Singh stated that the Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH) set up under National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), etc aim to boost technology development, innovation with the participation of startups. Further, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation established with the aim to provide high-level strategic direction for research, innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of science and technology also has the provision for financial contribution from the private sector.
The joint R&D programmes implemented through bilateral and multilateral agreements have significantly contributed to R&D investments in the country, he stated.. Presently India has bilateral S&T Agreement with 90 countries including active joint collaboration with 44 countries and multilateral groups such as European Union, BRICS, Globalstars (EUREKA), QUAD, G20, HFSPO, EMBO, etc.
The Ministry has also been supporting the Bilateral Industrial R&D Programme under MoU/ Agreement with France, Germany, Israel, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and USA. Through these Bilateral Industrial R&D programmes, Indian industries are encouraged to invest upto 50% of total project cost with matching contribution from the government.
As per the latest available R&D statistics, the gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) for India is 57.9 in billion current PPP$ during 2020.
The government, the Minister stated, has taken several steps for enhancing public and private sector investment in Research and Development. Some of the key efforts made by Government include: the successive increase in allocations for Scientific Departments, incentivizing investment by private sector to increase their share in GERD, introducing flexible tools for public procurement; creating avenues for collaborative STI funding through portfolio-based funding mechanisms such as Public-Private-Partnerships and other innovative hybrid funding mechanisms.
Dr Jitendra Singh noted that the Government has allowed the corporate sector to make R&D investments under the provision of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Corporates can invest in technology business incubators or contribute to research efforts carried out by institutions and national research laboratories as a part of their CSR. There are specific investment incentives offered such as Location-based tax incentives that enable 100% deductions of profits generated from establishing and doing business in north-eastern states of India.
Further, the government has established the Anusandhan National Research Foundation with the aim to provide high-level strategic direction for research, innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of science and technology with the provision of almost 70% share of budget contribution from the private sector.
