(a) the details regarding the percentage of spending of Government on research and development in comparison to other developed and developing countries;
(b) whether the Government plans to increase the spending on research and development;
(c) if so, the details regarding schemes initiated for the same; and
(d) whether the Government has set any targets for research and development spending in a long run and if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(DR. MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY)
(a) to (d): As per the global studies on research investment, 2014, India spends 0.85% of GDP on research as against 2.74% in United States, 2.10% in China, 3.58% in Japan, 2.84% in Germany and 4.29% in South Korea. The Government has emphasized the need for promoting research that is socially relevant and is of use to the end users. For this purpose, two schemes namely Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) and Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY) have been launched. IMPRINT focuses on research in higher educational institutions, with an allocation Rs.487.00 crore for a period of three years beginning 2016-17. The cost of the project is met to the extent of 50% by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the remaining 50% by the participating Ministries/Departments. UAY promotes industry sponsored, outcome-oriented research projects with an outlay of Rs.475.00 crore for a period of two years beginning 2016-17. The project cost is met to the extent of 50% by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and 25% each by the Industry and the participating Ministries/Departments. Further initiatives like the e-shodh Sindhu, National Digital Library and SWAYAM have provided opportunity for Indian institutions to do better on global platform. The IIT Council has also approved the proposal to implement a host of measures for building world class laboratories, collaborative research, and global outreach for improving the ranking of the IITs.
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