Budget A speech given in the year before a general election is usually one that attempts to please as wide a section of society as possible. It follows that ministries funding the bulk of research and development (R&D) will also see a healthy jump in allocations. Ministry of Science and Technology has Allocation of ₹ 16,361.42 crore received This year, there is an impressive 15% increase from the previous estimate on paper. However, the ministry had seen a shortfall of 3.9% between 2021-22 and 2022-23. The bulk of the increase has gone to the Department of Science and Technology (DST) – ₹7,931.05 crore, up 32.1% from last year. It was 2,683.86 crore, or DBT (a marginal increase of 3.9%) for the Department of Biotechnology, and 5,746.51 crore (1.9%) for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). The Deep Ocean Mission – which includes other components developing deep-submersible vehicles – and the National Research Foundation have received significantly higher increases than in previous years, indicating they are an immediate focus of the Center.
The budget speech had several references to investing in dedicated centers of excellence in ‘artificial intelligence’ research, initiatives to enhance technology for the production of lab-created diamonds, and a center for research into sickle cell anaemia. While all of these efforts may be spread across multiple branches of government, none of the budgetary allocations suggest a significant scale of basic research. Like previous governments, this government has also not been successful in increasing the percentage of expenditure on research and development to more than 1% of GDP. While different countries define R&D spending differently, one rule states that developed and technologically advanced countries spend more than 2% of their GDP on R&D, and by 2022 the Global Innovation Index As per the estimates, India continues to hover around 0.7%. Being one of the world’s largest producers of scientific literature. While funding is not the only challenge for research and development in India, the lack of significant growth in portfolios shows that the absorptive capacity of scientific institutions in the country is limited. A major challenge is that research scholars continue to get caught in the maze of bureaucratic whims, not getting the promised funds on time and waiting for the quality equipment required by researchers. The bulk of research is being funded by the government and private sector participation has increased. Over the next few years, the government should not only increase the size of the funding pie but also simplify procedures to make the most efficient use of it.