Dr. Kalpana Bora
The Union budget presented in the Lok Sabha on Feb 1, 2026, focuses on accelerating the Bharatiya economy, keeping it at par with a middle-income developed nation. Thrust has been given to boosting the manufacturing sector and making quality products in the country, at par with international standards. For that, innovation in technology will be needed, and innovation is fuelled by research in basic sciences. Until when shall Bharat depend on imported technology? Bharat is lagging behind in producing research breakthroughs and hence innovations. It should be noted, however, that Bharat’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII) has risen significantly from 81st in 2015 to 38th in 2025.
Most of the basic research leading to S&T publications must come from PhD programmes of the university system and government research laboratories. Quality and quantity of doctorates produced in the country determine the health of its research ecosystem. Our problem is not with the number but with the quality of these PhDs. So, the question before us is, “Why are we lagging behind in impact-making publications and hence innovations?” If Bharat has to fulfil its dream of becoming a Viksit Nation by 2047, we must address these issues. Some points to ponder over are as follows:
A. Uplift research infrastructure at state universities
One of the visions of NEP2020 states that institutions of higher education need to be transformed from just degree-awarding institutions to institutions of ‘learning’ and empowering students for ‘problem solving’. For this, students must be ‘excited’ and be ‘passionate’ about the subject/topic, which could be achieved through ‘Education Inspired by Cutting-edge Research’. By getting students engaged in cutting-edge R&D projects in the institution or elsewhere from the UG level. Thus, we need R&D for science and technology innovation in the higher education system. However, Central Govt laboratories and institutions alone can’t do it, and this is where the role of the university sector comes in – universities must make a much larger contribution to S&T innovations in the coming decades. State & private universities are not contributing significantly to impact-making publications. To improve this significantly, first we must first understand the ailments of the system, which can be outlined as:
1. Faculty recruitment: Cutting-edge research can be done only if the faculty is the best available in the country, and we must utilise our talented brains who want to return back home after getting educated/trained abroad.
2. Poor Science & Technology Infrastructure
3. To excel in innovation and research in S&T, a vibrant academic environment & research culture are required. If the environment in the school/college excites and attracts the students to study science and to passionately pursue ‘Knowing the Unknown’, we may call it a vibrant academic environment. Faculty need to motivate and facilitate the students for this to happen. Flexible time to work for the PhD students, regular seminars on exciting developments in S&T by faculty and students, and nationally and internationally renowned scientists as distinguished visitors to present lectures and interact with students may help.
Most PhD students do PhD programmes to just obtain a degree, hoping that it will fetch a good job. There are no/minimal postdoctoral opportunities in universities. State universities may engage in “locally important but globally relevant” research. The desire for excellence is missing!
B. Focus on quality and not quantity of research papers
If a country produces 1,00,000 research articles in a year, and the number of citations of these articles in the year of publication and two years after puts 1200 of these articles in the top 1% cited articles in the world, then the Research Index is counted as 1.2. The order of this index is - USA 1.9; EU 1.3; China 1.2; India 0.9.
Therefore the higher the Research Index, the greater the impact of making research papers and the better the quality of research! Bharat is publishing more in number but lagging behind in quality. We are creating a system optimised for visibility through numbers, rather than breakthroughs. To address this issue, one solution may be that promotion criteria should be based on the quality and not the quantity of research papers. Faculties are under a lot of pressure to qualify for various criteria that focus on the number of research papers and h-indices. A scientist coming from a top foreign institution with just six papers of superior quality won’t qualify for the criterion of our home institutions for appointment, as they require a minimum of, say, 10/15 papers. We need to appreciate excellence. We need to avoid serious misconduct like plagiarism and data manipulation and publications in predatory journals that guarantee publication for a fee with minimal peer review, which is driven by pressure to publish more papers needed for promotion.
Excellence requires the courage to back transformative work even when it doesn’t produce enough research papers. Building genuine research prestige takes decades. MIT became MIT by sustaining commitment for 30 years without demanding immediate returns.
C. Recruit our foreign-educated talent who wish to return back home
Unfortunately, it is a common issue that our talented individuals who study abroad face an unwelcoming institutional ecosystem when they wish to return home. When these bright brains apply for permanent scientist/faculty positions in the country’s institutions/universities, they receive inadequate responses. Our system has simply lost the ability to absorb what it produces. Lobbies backed by the internal ecosystem of the institution, community, region, or even research area determine who gets hired, irrespective of merit at times.
In 2008, China started the ‘Thousands Talent Plan’, paying their talents from abroad a starting bonus of one million Yuan, handsome research funding, housing subsidies, meal allowances, paid home visits, and subsidised schooling for children—everything designed to make the transition back to China as seamless and rewarding as possible. Since 2008, China has recruited approximately 7,000 scientists, academics, and entrepreneurs back from overseas.
A talented scientist working in our laboratory is our asset for research and innovation and can catalyse the research & innovation culture of the nation. If she works in someone else’s laboratory, it is as good as if we have lost her talent that could have contributed instead to our resources. These are incurring serious losses to our scientific and research ecosystem and act against national interests.
D. Holistic implementation
of NEP 2020
NEP2020 is a very ambitious educational policy that aims to bring about a paradigm shift in the education system of Bharat. It focuses on the holistic development of children, imparting skill and value education to them, making them aware of knowledge & wisdom, science, economy, economics, and the knowledge system of Ancient Bharat. It aims to generate valuable human resources who will contribute to national building and will serve mankind. Thus, it is very important that NEP2020 is implemented holistically, in “letter and spirit”, not merely on paper. For that, it is essential that all the stakeholders comprehend its essence by heart and feel the urge to implement it holistically, not merely carry on with it as a burden. The mindset of teachers, parents, and policymakers needs to be transformed. Industrial-academia partnership, focus on skill, online education, and valued education form an integral part of education under NEP2020.
E. Quality of Teachers at Schools and Colleges
One of the major issues with the education system of Bharat is the quality of teachers in schools and colleges, both in government and private. This serves as a vicious cycle, with negative feedback. To ensure this:
• The B.Ed. programme must be made more intensive.
• Just scoring high marks in examinations does not make sure if a person will be a good teacher. The method of delivery of the lecture and the methodology to engage and connect with students are equally important.
• Teachers need to keep pace with the latest developments in the methodology of teaching, including blended mode. For that, regular training programmes/refresher courses must be conducted.
School education forms the backbone of higher education. So, maximum focus needs to be put on the quality of school education in synchronisation with NEP.
F. Funding on Education & Research
Leading economies spend about 6%–7.5% of their GDP on education, with Japan at 7.4%, China at 6.1%, the US at 6%, and the UK at over 6%. NEP2020 reaffirms a long-standing goal (originally recommended by the Kothari Commission in 1966) to increase public investment in education to 6% of GDP. India has consistently allocated 1%–4.6% of its GDP to education between 2015 and 2025.
In the proposed budget of FY2026-27, 39% of the total education expenditure is allocated to the higher education sector, while 61% is for school education and literacy. As per data published in September 2025 on OECD, Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI) Database, March 2025 (https://oe.cd/msti), the Gross Domestic Expenditures spent on R&D as a percentage of GDP are:
Israel 6.35%; Korea 4.96%; USA 3.45%; Germany 3.11%; China 2.58%; Australia 1.66%; Spain 1.49%; Italy 1.31%.
As per a press release on Feb 5, 2026, on pib.gov.in, India’s Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) is 0.6-0.7 per cent of GDP. Thus, it is clear that Bharat must increase budget allocation in the education and research sector to catalyse innovation.
ViksitBharat@2047 is the vision of the Government of India launched in 2023 by PM Modi. ‘Viksit’ means to transform Bharat into a developed nation that encompasses various aspects of development, including inclusive economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability, peace and effective governance, with a strong focus on the participation of the youth in this transformation. This vision is based on 4 pillars – youth, the poor, women, and Annadata (farmers). The objectives of ViksitBharat@2047 are zero poverty, 100% good-quality school education, access to high-quality, affordable and comprehensive healthcare, 100% skilled labour, 70% of women in economic activity, and farmers making our country the food basket of the world.
Education, research and innovation are the backbone of the knowledge economy, and the nation that acquires and deploys them will shape the technologies and industries of tomorrow. Every one of us must work to make our bit of contribution in making our nation Viksit, utilizing a perfect fusion of the ancient Indian knowledge system with modern technology.