Lok Sabha Question No. 2513 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-26
Subject: Less Spending in R&D
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Tejpratap Singh,Yadav, L.R. Shivaramegowda, ANJU BALA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2513 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26/12/2018

## LESS SPENDING IN R&D

## 2513. SHRI TEJ PRATAP SINGH YADAV: SHRI L.R. SHIVARAME GOWDA: SHRIMATI ANJU BALA:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ÉÊ´ÉYÉÉxÉ +ÉÉè® |ÉÉètÉÉäÉÊMÉBÉEÉÒ àÉÆjÉÉÒ be pleased to state:

- (a) whether India is lagging far behind in number of Ph.Ds. produced in science and technology per year compared to China and other countries which is adversely affecting India's pace of economic development and if so, the Government's reaction thereto;
- (b) whether  India  spends  less  percentage  of  GDP  on  R&D  in  Science  and  Technology  compared  to China and other countries and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(c) whether there is a shortage of institutions which offer Ph.D. courses in the field of inter-disciplinary and cutting-edge frontier areas of Science and Technology and if so, the Government's reaction thereto; and

- (d) the  other  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  Research  and  Development  (R&D)  in science?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES AND MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

ÉÊ´ÉYÉÉxÉ +ÉÉè® |ÉÉètÉÉäÉÊMÉBÉEÉÒ àÉÆjÉÉÒ, {Éßl´ÉÉÒ ÉÊ´ÉYÉÉxÉ àÉÆjÉÉÒ +ÉÉè® {ÉªÉÉÇ´É®hÉ, ´ÉxÉ A´ÉÆ VÉãÉ´ÉÉªÉÖ {ÉÉÊ®´ÉiÉÇxÉ àÉÆjÉÉÒ

(bÉ. c­ÉÇ ´ÉvÉÇxÉ)

- (a) As per the latest Science and Engineering Indicators 2018, National Science Foundation, USA and UGC Annual Report 2015-16, India (15,246) ranks 3 rd in Ph.D. production in the world after USA (39,834) and  China  (34,103)  in  the  field  of  Science  &  Technology  and  is  far  ahead  of  other  countries  viz  Japan (6,743), Germany (14,625), UK (14,271), France (10,023), South Korea (6,032) etc.
- (b) India's  spends  0.70%  of  its  GDP  on  Research  and  Development  as  compared  to  China  (2.05%), Korea (4.29%), Japan (3.58%), USA (2.73%), France (2.26%), UK (1.70%), Germany (1.37%), South Africa (0.73%) etc.
- (c) & (d): As per UGC inputs, the universities have academic autonomy to decide the areas of research for Ph.D.  which  includes  inter-disciplinary  and  cutting-edge  frontier  areas  of  science  and  technology.    The Government has been constantly engaged in the promotion and growth of scientific research in the country through various measures such as successive increase in plan allocations for scientific departments, setting up of new institutions for science education and research, creation of Centres of Excellence and Facilities in emerging and frontline areas of S&T in academic and national institutions, Launching number of schemes to  promote  and  strengthen  research  in  universities  such  as  Special  Assistance  Programme  (SAP), Universities  with  Potential  for  Excellence  (UPE),  Colleges  with  Potential  for  Excellence  (CPE),  Special Assistance  for  Basic  Science  Research  (BSR),    launching  of  new  fellowships,  promotion  of  innovation, entrepreneurship and start-ups grant for young scientists, Funds for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (FIST), encouraging public-private partnerships, fiscal incentives and support measures for enhancing the participation of industry in R&D etc.
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