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News: The Department of Science and Technology released the Research and Development Statistics 2025-26, highlighting record R&D expenditure and private-sector leadership.
Key Highlights of Research and Development Statistics 2025-26
- Released by: It is released by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
- Key Highlights of Research and Development Statistics 2025-26:
- Record R&D Expenditure: India’s Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) reached ₹2,44,767.81 crore in 2023-24, which is the highest level recorded so far.
- Higher Share in GDP: GERD increased to 0.84% of GDP in 2023-24, compared with 0.82% in the previous year, and grew by around 14.7%over 2022-23.
- The report estimates that India’s R&D expenditure will approach 0.9% of GDP in 2025-26.
- Private Sector Leads R&D Spending: The private sector contributed 51.8% of total R&D expenditure, while the government contributed 48.2%.
- Growing Industry Participation: The private sector’s share increased from 33.8% in 2019-20 to 51.8% in 2023-24, showing greater investment in research, technology development, and innovation.
- Sector-wise Contribution: Higher education institutions contributed 12.6% of total R&D expenditure, while public sector enterprises accounted for 4.1%.
- The private sector recorded the highest expenditure, followed by the central government sector.
- Government Measures to Boost Research and Innovation:
- Research Funding: The government introduced a ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund to support private-sector-led strategic and high-risk research.
- Research Institutions and Missions: The government established the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) and launched major national missions, including the National Quantum Mission, National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems, India Semiconductor Mission, and the National Supercomputing Mission.
- Innovation and Partnerships: The government promoted public-private partnerships through technology hubs and supported innovation through National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI), Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and TIDE 2.0 (Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs) programmes.
- Policy Support: The Geospatial Policy 2022, Space Policy 2023, and BioE3 Policy 2024 aim to increase private sector participation in science, technology, and biotechnology.
