Question : Less Spending in R&D

(a) whether India is lagging far behind in number of Ph.Ds. produced in science and technology per year compared to China and other countries which is adversely affecting India’s pace of economic development and if so, the Government’s reaction thereto;

(b) whether India spends less percentage of GDP on R&D in Science and Technology compared to China and other countries and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(c) whether there is a shortage of institutions which offer Ph.D. courses in the field of inter-disciplinary and cutting-edge frontier areas of Science and Technology and if so, the Government’s reaction thereto; and

(d) the other measures taken by the Government to improve Research and Development (R&D) in science?

MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES AND MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

(a) As per the latest Science and Engineering Indicators 2018, National Science Foundation, USA and UGC Annual Report 2015-16, India (15,246) ranks 3rd in Ph.D. production in the world after USA (39,834) and China (34,103) in the field of Science & Technology and is far ahead of other countries viz Japan (6,743), Germany (14,625), UK (14,271), France (10,023), South Korea (6,032) etc.

(b) India’s spends 0.70% of its GDP on Research and Development as compared to China (2.05%), Korea (4.29%), Japan (3.58%), USA (2.73%), France (2.26%), UK (1.70%), Germany (1.37%), South Africa (0.73%) etc.

(c) & (d): As per UGC inputs, the universities have academic autonomy to decide the areas of research for Ph.D. which includes inter-disciplinary and cutting-edge frontier areas of science and technology. The Government has been constantly engaged in the promotion and growth of scientific research in the country through various measures such as successive increase in plan allocations for scientific departments, setting up of new institutions for science education and research, creation of Centres of Excellence and Facilities in emerging and frontline areas of S&T in academic and national institutions, Launching number of schemes to promote and strengthen research in universities such as Special Assistance Programme (SAP), Universities with Potential for Excellence (UPE), Colleges with Potential for Excellence (CPE), Special Assistance for Basic Science Research (BSR), launching of new fellowships, promotion of innovation, entrepreneurship and start-ups grant for young scientists, Funds for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (FIST), encouraging public-private partnerships, fiscal incentives and support measures for enhancing the participation of industry in R&D etc.

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