Not just what India manufactures, but what it discovers

The vision of an innovation-driven India will ultimately depend on how successfully the country can transform science from the responsibility of a few institutions into a wider societal movement

In today’s world, scientific capability is closely linked with economic competitiveness, technological sovereignty, public health, sustainability, national security, and long-term resilience. India’s future will depend not only on what it manufactures but also on what it discovers. Research and innovation remain outside the active imagination of large sections of industry, philanthropy, CSR ecosystems, and society at large. This gap deserves more attention.

Historically, India’s expenditure on R&D as a percentage of GDP has remained modest compared to technologically advanced economies. Funding has traditionally relied heavily on government support. This is not because India lacks social commitment. In fact, India has built one of the world’s largest CSR ecosystems and possesses a deep tradition of philanthropy. The problem is that research and innovation are still seen as someone else’s responsibility. Research and innovation are not alternatives to social investment — they are force multipliers.

Every modern technology that society today takes for granted was once an uncertain research idea pursued in a laboratory somewhere. Society experiences the visible outcomes but rarely notices the invisible scientific journeys behind them. Research is therefore a form of invisible national infrastructure. Its returns are often delayed, unpredictable, and difficult to quantify immediately, but their eventual societal impact can be enormous. Nations that consume technology without investing sufficiently in its creation risk becoming dependent on external innovation ecosystems, external intellectual property, and external strategic choices. Scientific capability is deeply linked to economic independence, geopolitical resilience, industrial competitiveness, and national confidence. The idea of ANRF is not just to distribute grants, but to catalyse partnerships among government, academia, industry, start-ups, philanthropy, and society.

Strategic co-investment in research often stimulates substantially larger downstream investments within companies themselves. Every rupee co-invested through such partnerships can potentially catalyse several-fold higher internal R&D investments within participating organisations. This is significant because innovation ecosystems rarely grow through isolated grants alone. They grow when research begins to trigger wider institutional confidence, industrial participation, risk-taking, and scientific ambition. Participation need not always begin with massive investments. Companies can support targeted translational projects aligned with national priorities. Philanthropic foundations can help create doctoral fellowships, advanced instrumentation facilities, interdisciplinary research centres, or regional innovation clusters. Industry associations can co-create challenge-driven innovation programmes. Successful start-ups can reinvest in deep-technology ecosystems that create the next generation of innovation.

The vision of an innovation-driven India will ultimately depend on how successfully the country can transform science from the responsibility of a few institutions into a wider societal movement.

Kalyanaraman is CEO, Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), Government of India, Paknikar is ANRF Prime Minister Professor, COEP Technological University, Pune