WILL INDIA
SUCCEED IN R & D ? (Research
&Development)
DIMINISHING
BASIC mindset for Research
Innovation
is not a process but a state of mind. Therefore it can’t be learned but felt –
Ivonne Kinser
When there was a hue
and cry about giving posthumous Bharath Ratna, Sri Narayanamurthy of Infosys,
in a TV interview asked “why not to Ramanujan, the mathematical genius?” He was
expressing his frustration towards the national neglect of Science &
Technology (S&T).
The awareness about science
and technology in India is still primitive. The nation’s concentration is towards
Politics, Movie mania and Religious fervour.
India had produced more
than 100 world renowned scientists until 1980 and its continuity has shifted to
the West. Recent Indian Nobel laureates and Fields Medalist are citizens of the
West. The root cause is the steady decline in research culture in universities
due to faulty educational policy. The
number of PhDs spiked from 10781 in 2008 to 16093 in 2011 (UGC report). The impact is less impressive. Imagination and independent thinking, the
seeds for innovation, are undermined by the examination/marks culture in the
educational system.
The encouragement to Scientists
is basically infantile. Their
discoveries are not taken seriously for further research; instead, they are glorified
with titles, awards and functions. Cash
awards to achievers may attract sports persons and artists but cannot develop scientists. Researchers need equipped laboratories, libraries, equipment
at cheap price, financial support , interactions and support from business
world and educational institutions, cooperation from public, encouragement from
family and due recognition for the efforts.
There is hardly any
public library exclusively for science and technology in metropolitan cities. There
are no exclusive TV channels like Discovery Science and Nat Geo for S&T addressing India’s
achievements, issues and challenges. Business channels cover mostly finance
related affairs.
There are about 100 institutions funded and
run by Central Government for S&T development all over India, yet the
result is less promising. They seem to provide employment opportunities to the
bureaucrats. The exceptions, probably, are Indian Space Research Organisation, Bahabha
Atomic Research Centre, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Defence
Research & Development Organisation.
.
Role
of Corporate Sector
When the high tech
heavy vehicles of Volvo entered the Indian market, the response from the Indian
counterparts was that they are also capable of making similar vehicles. There was no answer to the following
questions. Why did you not make it earlier? Why make this statement only after
Volvo arrived? If you had made it earlier, Volvo would not have come to India. The evasive response is “we are unable to
meet the demand for the present vehicles”.
Hindustan Motors (Ambassador Car) that gave the same reason 30 years ago
has disappeared from the roads of India crushed by the competition from MNCs. This is the reflection of procrastination
and trying to stretch as much as possible with existing products and system.
IT companies are
confined only to service providing and not product development. Sanjay Pingle reported in Pharmabiz.com
(Oct/7/13) that Indian pharmaceutical companies have substantially increased
their R&D expenditure but they are focused on new cost effective generic
products and not on new discoveries.
The average spending on
R&D by the top Indian corporate heavy weights (TCS, Infosys, BHEL, Sun Pharma, , Tata Group) is below 2.5% of the total revenue as against
IBM 5.9%, Microsoft 12.9%, Merk 17.6%, Siemens 5.3% and Toyota Motors 4.2.%.(Yahoofinance.com)
“Within the Tata Group, the ‘innovation’
investment over the last 100 years has been sporadic and it’s only in the last
five years that there has been a consistent surge and focus in this area,” said
Sunil Sinha, chief, Tata Quality Management Services. (Hindustan Times Oct/27/14)
The ineffective government control over fake and
duplicate products, copying, and pirating that violate patent rights also discourages
innovations.
India ranks 66 out of 142
in the Innovation index. Innovation need
not be in high technology. Innovative
consumer products from China and Korea have already flooded the Indian
market.
The Indian corporate
sector is still embryonic in product development. The converging point is “lack of mindset for R&D”. Indian corporate should stop skimping on
R&D and think seriously the remark of Bill
Gates “You obsolete your own products before your competitor does it.”
It is self humiliation that despite having
large pool of highly qualified scientists, Indian industries are thriving on
imported, borrowed, pirated and obsolete technologies from the developed
nations.
Conclusion
Mark F. Schultz (The Hindu 4/11/14) wrote that
there is a big a gap between India’s innovative capabilities and results. The gap is created by the ignorant and
aversive public, reluctant corporate sector and Government inaction.
India boasts that it is
becoming a hub for research activities of the MNCs. Approximately 150 MNCs have started their
R&D centres across India to take full advantage of the cheap talent pool. RBI reported that the R&D expenditure of
MNCs in India has increased from Rs. 28.6 crores in 2002 to Rs. 288.3 crores in
2010. Ministry of Science
&Technology revealed that India spends 0.87% of its GDP in R&D whereas
the figure for developed nations is over 3.3%. During the period 2010/11, 39400
patents were filed in India shared by MNCs 31100 and Indians’ 8300. The Indian government aims only at FDIs
from MNCs and never thinks seriously about exploring the Indian talent and skills for Indian industries.
NAMO’s “make in India” will succeed only if R& D is given top priority and its
importance is popularized similar to the
Yoga campaign..
Dr. Krishnan
Arunachalam
(Published in Mylapore
Club Magazine July/2015)
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