Public R&D, not just startups: why India needs far higher investment in research to realise Viksit Bharat
Main theme
The op-ed argues that India's startup and venture capital boom cannot substitute for foundational R&D, which is typically seeded by sustained public funding, as shown by Taiwan's semiconductors and the US's public-funded innovations. It takes the stance that India must significantly scale and sustain research spending, and pair it with systemic reforms, to compete at the technological frontier and achieve Viksit Bharat by 2047. The article text is truncated, so its three systemic shifts are only partly visible.
Key takeaways
- Historical precedent: Taiwan's state-led push into semiconductors in the 1970s now yields about 90% of the most advanced chips and roughly $300 billion in revenue. Many US breakthroughs, including the internet, mRNA vaccines, lithium-ion batteries and Google's PageRank, began with public funding.
- Startups and VC build on public research rather than replace it. India has the world's third-largest startup ecosystem, with over $160 billion raised in a decade, but this depends on upstream basic research.
- The spending gap is large: India's R&D spend was about $76 billion in 2024 against China's $786 billion. The India AI Mission's five-year budget is said to be less than what OpenAI spends on research in a month.
- Institutional groundwork exists: national missions on AI, semiconductors and quantum, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), DST, MeitY and DRDO. The argument is that the next phase needs higher, more sustained funding.
- The author calls for three systemic shifts to maximise returns on each rupee spent. The excerpt is cut off after the first, which begins with 'breakthroughs require e...'.
Conceptual analysis
The editorial argues that technological leadership has seldom been purely private. Taiwan's government acted as investor and enabler in semiconductors when private firms balked at the risk, and the US's key innovations came from strategic public investment that private industry later scaled. India has promoted entrepreneurship well, becoming the third-largest startup ecosystem with over $160 billion raised, but venture capital depends on breakthroughs seeded by public money. To reach Viksit Bharat by 2047, India must raise R&D spending sharply: it spent about $76 billion in 2024 against China's $786 billion. Recent missions in AI, semiconductors and quantum, and the ANRF, give a base, but funding is small relative to the global frontier, as the India AI Mission budget versus OpenAI's monthly research spend shows. The author calls for coordinated national effort to scale fundamental and frontier research, with three systemic shifts to maximise returns. The text is truncated after the start of the first.
Prelims relevance
Remember the ANRF, the national missions on AI (IndiaAI Mission), semiconductors and quantum (National Quantum Mission), and the roles of DST, MeitY and DRDO. Also note the comparative figures: India's R&D is about $76 billion against China's $786 billion, and Taiwan makes about 90% of the most advanced chips.
Mains relevance
This maps to GS3 themes of science and technology, indigenisation, economic growth and innovation ecosystems. Use the 'entrepreneurial state' argument, in which public risk capital precedes private scaling, and contrast it with India's low GERD-to-GDP ratio and weak private R&D. Suggest solutions such as stable multi-year funding, industry-academia linkage, and ANRF-led co-funding of private R&D.
Concept explainers
Total national spending on research and development by government, industry, academia and non-profits, usually expressed as a percentage of GDP. India's is around 0.64–0.7% of GDP, well below China and other major economies.
An apex body created by statute in 2023 to seed, grow and promote R&D across universities, colleges and labs, and to foster industry participation. It replaces the Science and Engineering Research Board.
Mariana Mazzucato's idea that the state takes early, high-risk investment in innovation, which private firms then commercialise. It underpins the op-ed's argument.
Research aimed at expanding knowledge without immediate commercial use. It has long time horizons and uncertain returns, so it typically needs public funding.
Syllabus tags
Source: Livemint, 19 Oct 2026
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