- India has announced an RDI program worth INR 1 trillion (about $12 billion) to transform its scientific potential into economic power, aiming for the Viksit Bharat 2047 goal.
- Currently, India only spends 0.6% of GDP on R&D – lower than the global average of 1.8%, and far behind South Korea or Israel (3-6%). The private sector contributes only 36% of R&D, compared to about 70% in leading economies.
- History shows that India once led in deep tech but lost its advantage due to a lack of coordination: ISRO led in small satellites but failed to commercialize like SpaceX; SCL was ahead of TSMC but fell behind at 180nm, while TSMC has advanced to 3nm and holds a 35% global market share.
- The reason is that academia, government, and industry operate in silos, not following the “triple helix” model (ideas from academia, developed by industry, scaled by government).
- Positive signs: in 2023, there were 90,298 patent applications, with 55.2% from Indians (only 25% in 2013). Investment in deep-tech startups increased by 78% to $1.6 billion.
- Domestic success examples: IIT Madras’s INR 1.25 crore investment in Ather Energy is set for a 40x IPO; Ola established a Battery Innovation Center, Tata Steel developed new alloys; Qualcomm and Shell are funding Indian deep tech.
- The state plays the role of an early-stage investor and strategic customer, supporting companies like Micron with $2.75 billion from the INR 76,000 crore semiconductor program.
- Other initiatives: opening ISRO’s launchpads to startups, iDEX funding defense technology, GeM supporting 30,000 startup suppliers, and a more streamlined IPO platform.
- Innovation infrastructure is also being strengthened: The Bangalore Bio-innovation Centre supports over 100 life science startups. The state establishes S&T clusters in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
- Proposals: increase R&D funding for higher education, a Bayh-Dole-style law allowing universities to retain IP ownership, and establish an ARPA-like agency to make high-risk, high-reward strategic bets.
📌 India is launching an RDI program worth INR 1 trillion ($12 billion) to leverage AI, quantum, defense, and energy to achieve its comprehensive development goals by 2047. Although spending only 0.6% of GDP on R&D, India is making breakthroughs through state and corporate investment, promoting patents, startups, and triple-helix collaboration to turn deep tech into a real growth engine.
