The Indian R&D ecosystem is at an inflexion point, driven by a strong national aspiration to emerge as a global hub for innovation, technological capability and scientific excellence. Over the last ten years, the country has placed an emphasis on knowledge-driven growth. Recognising that long-term development in the 21st century needs to be driven by innovation, technological progress and scientific research. This constitutes the core of the vision behind Viksit Bharat@2047, a roadmap for economic prosperity, technological sovereignty and global leadership. This transformation is a result of the sustained investments being made by the Government in creating policy reforms, mission-mode programmes, and deeper collaboration among academia, industry, and research institutions.
These collective steps have strengthened the foundation of the innovation landscape in India, by enabling its expansion into frontier areas such as quantum technology, semiconductors, AI, biotechnology and ocean sciences. At the same time, India’s digital governance systems have become an example of world-class digital public infrastructure, and the expanding pool of skilled researchers continues to reinforce the country’s scientific momentum.
Rising R&D Expenditure for Viksit Bharat
One of the strongest reflections of India’s renewed focus on research is the consistent rise in its R&D expenditure. Indian Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) has doubled from Rs 60,196.75 crore in 2010–11 to Rs 1,27,380.96 crore in 2020–21. This steady growth shows the Government’s long-term commitment to strengthening scientific capacity and driving innovation-led growth. Complementing this rise is the improvement in per capita R&D expenditure, which has increased from PPP$29.2 in 2007–08 to PPP$42.0 in 2020–21, indicating the increased investment relative to the population base. The distribution of funding also highlights the Government’s crucial role, contributing 64 per cent of total GERD, with the private sector contributing 36 per cent. This balance is expected to increase gradually as new incentives encourage greater private participation. Indian academia’s strength also continues to grow and support these R&D initiatives.
According to the Science and Engineering Indicators 2022 by NSF, USA and India awarded 40,813 doctorates in 2018–19, with 24,474 (60 per cent) in Science and Technology. This places the country third globally, behind only the USA and China in establishing India as a major contributor to global scientific research. Intellectual property creation is another area where India has seen strong advancement. Patent filings in India increased from 24,326 in 2020–21 to 68,176 in 2024–25, marking a sharp surge in innovation activity and reflecting the growing vibrancy of the countries research ecosystem.
RDI Scheme push for Private-Sector-led innovation
A major breakthrough in the Indian R&D journey came with the launch of the Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) scheme on November 3, 2025, during the inaugural session of ESTIC 2025. This scheme is empowered with Rs 1 lakh crore of funding mechanism for increasing private-sector participation in high-impact research. One of the major gaps in India’s innovation ecosystem has been the inadequate contribution of the private sector to the country’s national R&D spend. The RDI Scheme will directly address this gap by providing long-term financing or refinancing at low interest rates, thus enabling industries to undertake risk-intensive research that was earlier not possible due to financial constraints.
Besides enabling private investment, this scheme emphasises support to projects at higher Technology Readiness Levels, enabling the speedier translation of innovations from the lab to the commercial market. Key priorities would be facilitating the acquisition of critical and strategic technologies, particularly those essential for national security, industrial competitiveness and self-reliance. The scheme establishes a Deep-Tech Fund of Funds that strengthens the Indian deep-tech start-up ecosystem, one of the fastest-growing innovative segments in the world.
ESTIC 2025 – A National Platform for Scientific Collaboration
The launch of the RDI Scheme during ESTIC 2025 has underlined the importance of this conclave in India’s scientific landscape. ESTIC brought together more than 3,000 participants, including Nobel Laureates, leading scientists, global thought leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers and young innovators for Viksit Bharat 2047, pioneering Sustainable Innovation, Technological Advancement and Empowerment. This conclave has brought a resolve to create a collaborative and future-ready R&D environment. Its components included plenary talks, panel discussions, 11 thematic technical sessions, exhibitions featuring more than 35 deep-tech start-ups and poster presentations from young researchers. Interactions through these sessions will help and shape new collaborations, identify emerging opportunities and strengthen India’s national innovation roadmap.
Strengthening Institutional Reforms in Indian Research Landscape
ANRF: A New Era of Strategic Research Governance
ANRF has been operational since February 5, 2024, and represents one of the most significant reforms to provide high-level strategic direction to the country’s research ecosystem. Formed under the ANRF Act, 2023, the foundation will mobilise Rs 50,000 crore during 2023–28. Of this, Rs 14,000 crore comes from the Central Government, and the rest will be contributed through industry and philanthropists. The establishment of ANRF strengthened academic–industry collaborations, facilitated funding of high-impact research, nurtured innovation clusters and aligned scientific research with the economic and technological priorities of India.
National Geospatial Policy 2022: Transforming India’s Mapping Ecosystem
The National Geospatial Policy 2022 was announced with the aim of making India a global leader in the geospatial sector by 2035. It focuses on the principle of open access to geospatial data and encourages the establishment of high-resolution topographical survey systems and a Digital Elevation Model of India by 2030. This policy would considerably help in governance, research, disaster management, infrastructure planning and emerging sectors such as autonomous mobility.
Indian Space Policy 2023: Expanding India’s Space Economy
Indian Space Policy 2023 lays out a unified, future-ready framework for the rapidly growing Indian space sector. It enhances private participation, with expanding commercial opportunities and INSPACe as the nodal body for approvals, promotion and ease of doing business. This policy is built on earlier reforms and reiterates the commitment to becoming a major global space economy.
BioE3 Policy 2024: Driving the Bioeconomy
Approved in August 2024, the BioE3 is a policy in Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment, that supports the creation of biomanufacturing hubs, Bio-AI networks and a national bio foundry ecosystem. This will enhance India’s bioeconomy in response to the challenges of climate change, food security, environmental sustainability and health.
Atal Innovation Mission 2.0: Scaling Up the Innovation Culture
With a budget outlay of Rs 2,750 crore till 2028, AIM 2.0 scales the initiatives of ATLs and AICs to take innovation to schools, universities, research institutions, MSMEs and industries. AIM fosters a culture of design thinking, problem-solving and entrepreneurship across the country.
National Missions Driving Frontier Technologies
The pursuit of global leadership by India in science and technology is being driven by a set of national missions that target emerging, high-impact sectors. These missions aim to develop indigenous R&D capabilities, foster public–private collaboration and build advanced infrastructure across frontier domains. Each mission contributes to building an innovation ecosystem and positions India as a key player in next-generation technologies.
National Quantum Mission (NQM)
The NQM, with an outlay of Rs 6,003.65 crore, was approved in 2023 and will focus on developing quantum computers, secure quantum communication, quantum materials and quantum sensing to place India among the leading countries in quantum technology.
NM-ICPS
Launched in 2018 with a budget of Rs 3,660 crore, this mission strengthens research in AI, robotics, cybersecurity, IoT and automation. It has a strong distributed national network of 25 Technology Innovation Hubs.
National Supercomputing Mission (NSM)
NSM propels the high-performance computing ecosystem in India with supercomputers installed at universities and training centres at Pune, Kharagpur, Chennai, Palakkad and Goa.
India Semiconductor Mission (ISM)
Backed by Rs 76,000 crore, ISM supports 10 semiconductor projects, with investments of Rs 1.60 lakh crore, including India’s first commercial Silicon Carbide fab in Odisha.
Deep Ocean Mission (DOM)
Initiated in 2021 with Rs 4,077 crore, DOM strengthens ocean exploration, marine biodiversity study and resource mapping under India’s Blue Economy framework.
India AI mission
Approved in 2024 with Rs 10,371.92 crore, this mission has expanded computing capacity to 38,000 GPUs, thereby supporting AI research, start-ups, governance frameworks and skilling.
Digital Public Infrastructure: Indian Technological Backbone
India’s Digital Public Infrastructure is amongst the key enablers of its innovation ecosystem. UPI launched in 2016 and processed more than 20 billion transactions worth Rs 24.85 lakh crore in August 2025. It accounts for 85% of Indian digital payments and is operational in seven countries now. Co-WIN facilitated more than 220 crore vaccine doses, thus setting a global benchmark. It allows secure access to documents and has 60.35 crore users. With 143 crore IDs, Aadhaar and e-KYC are leading to digital inclusion. With Rs 43.95 lakh crore transferred and Rs 3.48 lakh crore saved, DBT exhibits the concept of transparent governance.
Efforts in the field of research, development, and innovation are becoming the cornerstones of India’s strategic policies for building a technologically secure, economically strong and globally leading nation by 2047. This is further strengthened through institutional reforms, such as ANRF, through transformative funding such as the RDI Scheme, mission-mode programs across quantum, AI, semiconductors and ocean sciences, coupled with the power of Digital Public Infrastructure. India’s R&D ecosystem is rapidly becoming more inclusive, more resilient and globally competitive, hence transforming the nation into a leading force in science, technology and innovation.
