{"id":83423,"date":"2026-08-29T17:45:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T12:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=83423"},"modified":"2026-08-29T17:49:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T12:19:19","slug":"indias-rd-landscape-technological-capabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/29-08-2026\/indias-rd-landscape-technological-capabilities","title":{"rendered":"A History of Learning in R&#038;D: Beyond Expenditure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Governance; GS3\/Science and Technology&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India needs technological capabilities along with increasing R&amp;D expenditure and private-sector participation to be globally competitive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India&#8217;s R&amp;D Landscape<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India&#8217;s R&amp;D ecosystem has expanded through public institutions, universities, start-ups and strategic sectors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, R&amp;D expenditure remains modest relative to major innovation economies, and private-sector participation is uneven.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recent policy discussions increasingly emphasise better mapping of R&amp;D finance, outcomes and institutional capabilities, not merely higher expenditure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Current Landscape of R&amp;D in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology and clean energy make indigenous technological capability strategically important.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As per \u2018<strong>Research &amp; Development Statistics 2025-26<\/strong>\u2019 Report of Department of Science and Technology (DST), the GERD as a percentage of GDP was around <strong>0.84% (2023-24) from 0.66% 2019-20. <\/strong>It is significantly <strong>lower than major economies:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>United States<\/strong> <strong>and China<\/strong> spend above 2% of GDP on R&amp;D.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Israel and South Korea<\/strong> spend more than 4% of GDP on R&amp;D.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India\u2019s R&amp;D funding is heavily dependent on <strong>public funding<\/strong> (with about 64% contribution), unlike the case in several leading innovation economies which have more than 60% of the R&amp;D budget contributed by the private sector.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India&#8217;s future competitiveness will depend on translating research into products, processes and globally viable firms.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It requires stronger links between laboratories, industry, skilled workers and production ecosystems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Issues and Concerns in India&#8217;s R&amp;D Landscape<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Attention on Inputs: <\/strong>R&amp;D is generally judged by money spent not capabilities generated, technologies absorbed, products developed or productivity increased.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Weak Industry-Research Linkages: <\/strong>Research institutions and enterprises often operate in isolation, constraining the commercialisation of information and feedback from production.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Limited Private Sector Participation:<\/strong> Businesses may under-invest in long-gestation research because of uncertainty, inadequate risk capital and weak incentives for technological development.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technology Transfer Without Learning:<\/strong> Importing technology or assembling foreign-designed items does not necessarily generate the capacity to design, improve and produce them on one&#8217;s own.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fragmented Innovation Ecosystem:<\/strong> Skills development, R&amp;D, tooling, manufacturing, and market feedback are typically considered as discrete operations rather than pieces of a continuous learning system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Related Efforts and Initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>National Research Foundation and ANRF:<\/strong> Institutional reforms to promote research ecosystems and to stimulate more participation by universities, industry and philanthropy actors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Initiatives:<\/strong> It is meant to bring in more private sector engagement and long-term funding for strategic and developing technologies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Atal Innovation Mission and Start-up Ecosystem:<\/strong> Innovation programs support entrepreneurship, incubation and conversion of ideas into commercial viable solutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Make in India and Production-linked Manufacturing Policies: <\/strong>Manufacturing policies that relate demand to domestic technological capabilities, skill development, design and indigenous innovation are good.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Tata Motors Case Study: Capability Creation as Technology Transfer<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Starting with the Daimler-Benz joint venture, TELCO evolved beyond assembly to component manufacture and indigenous design.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>By 1966, it had set up its own R&amp;D facility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The successful transfer of technology is thus largely a function of the timing of the end of the foreign partnership in 1969. Telco had acquired the ability to produce trucks by itself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward: Bolstering India\u2019s R&amp;D Landscape<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India needs to transition from an expenditure-based approach to a capability-based innovation strategy.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The results of R&amp;D should be evaluated in terms of technology absorption, patents of commercial significance, indigenous design competence, productivity benefits and successful products.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Universities, public laboratories, and business need to be connected by joint research platforms and mission-oriented projects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Manufacturing itself should be a site of learning. Companies need better apprenticeship schemes, design centers, toolmaking capacities and feedback loops between shop floors and researchers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The use of public procurement and strategic industrial policy can help build markets for local innovation while preserving performance and quality requirements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India should benefit from China&#8217;s emphasis on rapid capability accumulation but not mechanically duplicate its model.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In a world that is very competitive, the ability to learn faster is the differentiator.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background has-fixed-layout\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Daily Mains Practice Question<\/strong><br><strong>[Q] <\/strong>India&#8217;s challenge in research and development is not merely one of inadequate expenditure, but of insufficient organisational capability to learn, absorb and translate knowledge into competitive products. Discuss<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/opinion\/columns\/a-history-of-learning-in-r-d-126082801341_1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: BS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Published on:<\/strong> 29 August, 2026<\/p>\n<p>India needs technological capabilities along with increasing R&#038;D expenditure and private-sector participation to be globally competitive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":83425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial-analysis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/08\/history-of-learning-in-rd.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83424,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83423\/revisions\/83424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}