Why in news?
In an effort to stimulate investment in research and development (R&D), the Department of Science and Technology is mooting a fund that will match the contributions made by private companies in R&D
Details:
- The idea is to pool funds from a group of companies willing to invest in fundamental research, such as quantum computers or artificial intelligence, and whatever is invested government will match that
- The scheme will be coordinated through the department’s Science and Engineering Research Board, which funds a variety of basic science projects in several universities.
- Though India is among the top five countries in terms of its output of scientific publications, it doesn’t match up in investments.
- As a lower middle-income country, it is not surprising that India’s spending on R&D lags upper-middle income and high-income countries such as China, Israel, and the U.S.
- However, it currently underspends even relative to its income level… In fact, in 2015, there was a sizeable decline in R&D spending even as GDP per capita continued to rise
