Explanation:

 Investments in Indian science, measured in terms of Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD), have shown a consistently increasing trend over the years. GERD has tripled in the last decade in nominal terms – from Rs. 24,117 crores in 2004-05 to Rs. 85,326 crores in 2014-15 and an estimated Rs.1,04,864 crores in 2016-17 – and double in real terms (Table 1). However, as a fraction of GDP, public expenditures on research have been stagnant – between 0.6-0.7 percent of GDP – over the past two decades. Public expenditure is dominant, although its share has come down from three-fourths of all expenditures to about three-fifths.

India’s spending on R&D (about 0.6 percent of GDP) is well below that in major nations such as the US (2.8), China (2.1), Israel (4.3) and Korea (4.2). It is also unique in how dominant government is in carrying out R&D. In most countries, the private sector carries out the bulk of research and development even if government must play an import funding role. However, in India, the government is not just the primary source of R&D funding but also its the primary user of these funds (Figure 1). Even more, government expenditure on R&D is undertaken almost entirely by the central government. There is a need for greater State Government spending, especially application oriented R&D aimed at problems specific to their economies and populations.