"This can be achieved only by Transforming Universities into Research Hubs" ❤️

What Ails the Indian Research Ecosystem

Shashi Tharoor

#newspaperinlearning

29 December 2025

Close on the heels of our blogpost yesterday on the priority given to research in Indian Colleges and Universities, I felt so happy to read a special editorial feature in today’s The Hindu, Chennai Edition, by Member of Parliament and eminent writer Shri Shashi Tharoor on ‘The Great Indian Research Deficit.’

So proud of such illustrious MPs who root for a vibrant R & D Ecosystem in India.

In fact the article is an urgent call to action for Indian academia, political sector, and private sector alike, to address its underinvestment in Research and Development (R&D) if India hopes to achieve its “Viksit Bharat” (Developed India) 2047 goals.

Tharoor argues that while India has the intellectual potential, its current R&D ecosystem is insufficient to support its global ambitions.

Backing up his argument with evidence, Tharoor points out that, India spends only 0.6%–0.7% of its GDP on R&D, whereas global leaders like the U.S. (3.5%) and Israel (5.4%) spend significantly more.

In a biting comparison, he notes that a single Chinese company (Huawei) spends more on R&D ($23.4 billion) than the entire Indian nation combined. OMG!

Moreover, research in universities remains largely theoretical, with no clear pipeline to turn laboratory discoveries into market-ready products, he remarks.

On the path ahead to “Viksit Bharat,” Tharoor suggests that, to pivot from a ‘sprint’ to a ‘marathon’ of sustainable growth, we need institutional reform. This can be achieved only by transforming universities into research hubs and simplifying the intellectual property (IP) and patenting process to incentivise inventors.

Tharoor’s article is indeed a wake-up call for academia, to provide the much-needed ‘technological muscle’ required of a 21st-century superpower.

PS: You may want to read this blogger’s translated editorial piece from Dinamani Daily, dt 26 June 2021 on ‘Why Research’ | What ails Research in India? on our past blogpost HERE.