By Dr Ajai Garg and Vivan Sharan
In this blog, we discuss the prospects of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation, the Indian government’s premier R&D institution which has got fresh momentum recently. It must tackle three pressing challenges. First, research fraud has escalated, eroding the credibility of India’s scientific output. Second, India continues to struggle to scale innovation. And finally, the rigidity of current R&D funding models stifles private sector involvement. The ANRF has the potential to uplift Indian R&D, establish higher research standards, and catalyse private investment in transformative ways, but only if these challenges are addressed. We provide a roadmap for the journey ahead.
Prime Minister Modi chaired the inaugural meeting of the Governing Board of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) this September, officially launching its operations. The ANRF is set to serve as India’s apex body for high-level strategic direction to scientific research. It can enhance the country’s research and development (R&D) capabilities and bolster the scientific establishment -- both prerequisites for the growth and development of an economy this size. But to achieve this, the ANRF must first recognise three key challenges that plague R&D in the country.
Research Fraud Crisis
India’s scientific community is witnessing an alarming rise in research fraud, which threatens the credibility of all scientific output. Journal retractions from the country surged 2.5 times between 2020 and 2022, compared to 2017-2019 levels, due to plagiarism, editorial conflicts, and the prevalence of research papermills. India is now recognised as a top producer of low-quality and fraudulent research, drawing negative publicity from global communities of research sleuths.
The ANRF must acknowledge that the current state of peer reviewing to assess the quality and integrity of research is woefully inadequate. These reviews often fail to ensure research integrity. To address this challenge, the ANRF can establish robust process control and audit mechanisms, with sanctions for those guilty of misconduct.
Fuelling Scale
ANRF’s funding will likely focus on areas in vogue, such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence. However, no Indian company has managed to develop a global presence in critical and emerging technologies like these. The ANRF must ensure that research outputs translate into scalable technology deployments via private enterprise. India has not yet cracked the challenge of scaling cutting-edge innovation outside of areas where the State has led the charge in the past, such as nuclear energy or space satellites.
To address this, the ANRF must emphasise stress-testing of R&D to help prepare for scale, using simulations and sandboxes that mimic real-word conditions. Many promising indigenous innovations have faltered because the necessary conditions for ramping up -- such as coordination between research institutions, public and private sectors, and end-users -- were overlooked. The Defence Research and Development Organisation’s poor track of commercialising its research via the private sector is evidence of this. Ecosystem-wide coordination must become a criterion for funding emerging tech.
Countries like Taiwan and Israel are tech hubs because their scientists, public and private sectors collaborate closely to commercialise and leverage scientific advancements. The ANRF has its work cut out to actively involve private companies in research projects, and use government grants to bridge the gap between research and commercialisation.
Additionally, the ANRF should support Indian businesses in building global networks. This will require proactive cooperation with other countries on public policies linked to intellectual property and technical standards.
Flexible Funding
India’s existing institutional research funding processes are exclusionary by design and far from best in class. For instance, funds managed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), tend to exclude private research institutions unless they partner with public ones.
According to the DST’s own statistics, India’s total investment in R&D was around $17.2 billion in 2020-21. Within this, 54 percent or $9.4 billion was allocated to the public sector and predominantly utilised by four key scientific agencies: The Defence Research and Development Organisation was allocated 30.7 percent, the Department of Space 18.4 percent, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research 12.4 percent, and the Department of Atomic Energy 11.4 percent.
Moreover, newer public research institutions often receive less funding than older counterparts, perpetuating a hierarchy that stifles R&D. Such rigidity in state funding is a perhaps a key reason why private sector participation in R&D is still low in India.
It is more or less axiomatic that public funding cannot suffice to drive the scale of R&D necessary to keep pace with global innovation giants like the United States and China. Yet, India’s R&D spending is primarily driven by the State, with the central government accounting for 43.7 percent, state governments 6.7 percent, Higher Education Institutions 8.8 percent, and public sector industries 4.4 percent with the private sector industry contributing the rest, in 2020–21.
A solution to the scarcity of private sector investments in R&D lies in the ANRF proposing and creating funding models that prioritise research outcomes over the eligibility of the institutions involved. The National Research Foundation a federal body in the United States, does precisely this and serves as a ready template. It encourages grant applications by small businesses domiciled in America, especially when projects involve institutional collaborations. The Foundation also welcomes unsolicited proposals in areas of national importance.
The ANRF should also help fund large-scale scientific research projects that exceed national budgets and require technical knowledge available in various other countries. Prominent examples of such arrangements include the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the International Space Station.
The ANRF can change the R&D paradigm in India by improving research standards, and encouraging private sector participation and flexible funding. This will require doing away with institutional silos, and perhaps even a clean break from the past.
[Dr Ajai Garg is a former scientist and Vivan Sharan is a public policy expert and member of the board of advisors of the Esya Centre. These are their personal views.]