Chennai: In order to advance towards the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047, India should increase the gross expenditure of research and development from 0.64 per cent to 2 per cent in next four to five years, finds Niti Aayog. Further, a structured Ease of Doing Research and Development Assessment Framework should be developed to systematically evaluate how effectively institutions enable and support R&D activities.
As India advances towards the vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047, it is equally important to improve research quality, accelerate technology development and translation, increase industry participation, and develop globally competitive scientific institutions across the country. Achieving this will require sustained commitment, inter-governmental coordination, and measurable implementation outcomes.
With Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) remaining well below that of leading economies, and with bottlenecks affecting researchers throughout the research lifecycle, there is a clear need to re-examine and strengthen the enabling environment for R&D in the country. GERD should be raised from 0.64 per cent to at least 2 per cent of GDP, in the next four to five years to strengthen India’s research base and achieve Viksit Bharat 2047 goals.
The government has to introduce time-bound incremental fiscal incentives linked to additional R&D spend and promote industry-led research centres within public institutions.
Introduce an optional R&D Expenditure reporting line to improve visibility of private sector R&D investments and encourage higher spending. CSR provisions under the Companies Act should provide higher tax deductions for individual donations to R&D-supporting funds.
The government agencies should be mandated with a maximum six-month processing timeline for R&D proposals. The government can make direct grant transfers for extramural R&D to expedite fund flow.
The number of postdoctoral fellowships in Science and Technology should be increased by 20 per cent annually, for the next few years, to strengthen the national postdoctoral research ecosystem. A reduced 5% GST slab for R&D-related procurements to maximise effective utilization of limited research grants can be considered.
Performance-linked incentives and equity-based models to reward excellence and promote long-term research commitment can be introduced.
The government should develop and periodically update clear institutional guidelines covering IP, industry collaboration, infrastructure sharing, and research governance processes.
It can also develop an Ease of Doing R&D assessment framework and require institutions to conduct periodic self-assessments, with a standardized national scoring mechanism. A standard model/guiding templates for MoUs on technology co-development will strengthen academia – industry collaboration and reduce timelines.
The government should establish a Centre for Technology Indigenization (CTI) to identify priority technologies for indigenization, maintain a centralized repository, and coordinate with MSMEs to support domestic capability development.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
