On January 3, 2019, at the Indian Science Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the call for “Jai jawan, Jai kisan, jai vigyan, jai anusandhan”. With these words, he articulated a vision placing research and innovation as the primary agenda for economic growth, strategic security, industrial development, entrepreneurship, and citizen-centric service delivery.

The facts and figures since 2014 reflect the breadth of this transformation. India rose from 81st in the Global Innovation Index in 2015 to 38th in 2025. It also ranks third globally in the volume of scientific and engineering publications. The Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) has more than tripled from Rs 79,355.89 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 2,44,767.81 crore in 2023-24, reaching about 0.84 per cent of GDP. The private sector’s share of GERD also increased from 32.2 to 45.2 per cent over the same period.

During the last decade, a total transformation of the institutional architecture of India’s research base has been initiated. The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) funds new research across universities, colleges and R&D labs while encouraging collaboration amongst academia, industry and government.

The Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund, on the other hand, addresses a more difficult problem — the “valley of death”, where technologies need pilot-scale demonstration and productisation just........

© Indian Express