S&T Policies in India – UPSC GS3

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Evolution of Science, Technology and Innovation Policies in India:
Right after independence, India realised the value of science in promoting the welfare of people. So far, India has released four policies in Science. These are:
  1. The Scientific Policy Resolution, 1958
    • The policy aimed to lay the foundation of scientific temper and develop scientific enterprises around India.
    • The policy led to the establishment of many research institutes and national laboratories across India.
    • Achievement of the policy: By the end of 1980, India developed advanced scientific infrastructure along with sufficient scientific personnel.
  2. The Science and Technology Policy Statement, 1983
    • This policy aimed to achieve technological self-reliance. The policy also aimed to use technology to benefit all sections of society.
    • The policy aimed to strengthen the research in fields such as biotechnology and electronics.
  3. The Science and Technology Policy, 2003
    • This is the first Science Policy in India after the economic reforms in 1991.
    • This policy aimed to increase investment in research and development. The policy brought India’s investment in research to 0.7% of GDP.
    • During this policy only, the Scientific and Engineering Research Board (SERB) was established in India to promote research.
  4. The Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, 2013
    • This policy brought innovation into the science and technology policy.
    • The policy aimed to make India as one of the top five global scientific leaders in the world.
    • India achieved this by the following steps
    • The Centre built partnerships with State governments,
    • The government established more research and development centres throughout India
    • India collaborated in international research projects such as the Neutrino research, Large Hadron Collider, etc.
What are the outcomes of these four scientific policies?
The US-based National Science Foundation released a report. The report highlighted the outcomes of the policies. They are
  1. Achievement of Policies:
    • India was the third-largest publisher of peer-reviewed science and engineering journal articles and conference papers.
    • India achieved this milestone at the pace of a 10.73% annual growth rate from 2008. This is higher than the growth rate of China (7.81%).
  2. Where do the policies lack?
    • India’s index score was very low in Highly Cited Articles of the world. India has a score of 0.7. This is lower than the US, China and the EU.
    • India’s Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) is only 0.6% of GDP. This is very low as compared to the U.S. and China (their GERD is greater than 2%).
    • According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) report, India only filed 2053 patents in 2019. On the other hand, China filed 58,990 patents and the US filed 57,840 patents.
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