Science & Technology Industry Analysis

India has a strong network of science and technology institutions and trained manpower. It has the third largest scientific and technical manpower in the world. As of August 2020, there were ~950 universities in the country. India’s gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) has been consistently increasing over the years. India’s GERD as a percentage of GDP stood at 0.86% in 2020. India’s medical technology (MedTech) sector is forecast to reach US$ 7.8 billion in 2020 and US$ 9.6 billion in 2022.

India is among the top-ranking countries in the field of basic research. India stood third in the number of science and engineering publications in the world.

India’s gross expenditure in R&D was forecast to reach US$ 96.50 billion in 2020. India moved up to fifth rank in Global R&D Funding Forecast 2020. By 2022, R&D expenditure is targeted to reach at least two per cent of the country’s GDP. In the Union Budget for FY20, the Government announced setting up of National Research Foundation for R&D.

In total 1,494 Indians were listed among the top 2% scientists in world.

India stands among the top 50 countries in the Global Innovation Index 2020. It ranked 48^th moving up four places since 2019.

In September 2020, Remedial Action, Knowledge Skimming and Holistic Analysis of COVID-19 (RAKSHAK), became a part of Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) in IIT, Jodhpur. The various projects under RAKSHAK include developing a technology platform based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to mitigate situations arising amid/due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

On September 22, 2020, Rajya Sabha passed the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to provide knowledge in the field of Information Technology to offer solutions to challenges faced by the country.

In Union Budget 2020-21, the Government has announced allocation of Rs 6,302 crore (US$ 901.70 million) to the Ministry of Science and Technology, Rs 2,787 crore (US$ 398.77 million) to the Department of Biotechnology and Rs 5,385 crore (US$ 770.50 million) to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

In October 2020, in line with Atmanirbhar Bharat to achieve complete self-reliance, C-DAC signed a MoU with National Supercomputing Mission Host Institutes to establish supercomputing infrastructure in various premier institutions across India and accelerate the pace of research and innovation using computational science techniques.

In October 2020, Department of Science & Technology (DST) and IBM India announced collaborations to scale two DST initiatives—Vigyan Jyoti and Engage with Science (Vigyan Prasar)—that are aimed to increase the number of women working in technology fields.

F - forecasted, * in Purchasing Power Parity terms

R&D – Research and Development