Indian science, technology, and society: the changing landscape
R.A. Mashelkar*
National Chemical Laboratory, Pune 411 008, India
_________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
Over the centuries, India’s scientific and technological position among developed and developing countries
has shifted. Several centuries ago, it was characterized by scientific thought, capabilities, and techniques more
advanced than many countries. However, when the scientific and industrial revolutions took place in the West,
India was in a stagnant period. This paper looks at knowledge production in different countries vis-à-vis their
economic strength, and then positions India within this landscape.
Science and technology in India rest on four pillars: (1) techno-nationalism, (2) inclusive growth, (3)
techno-globalism, and (4) global leadership. Each of these pillars is discussed in some detail, followed by
concluding recommendations for steps India should take if it wishes to assume a leadership role among the
world’s developed nations. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: India; Science; Technology; Knowledge; Education; Economics; Pillars
_________________________________________________________________________________
1. Setting the context
In a knowledge society, the generation, acquisition, absorption, and communication and
dissemination of knowledge assume considerable importance. Generating knowledge requires an ab
initio approach and creativity. Acquiring knowledge involves indigenous development of knowledge
as well as acquiring it from elsewhere in the world through licensing agreements, foreign investment,
and so on. Absorbing knowledge involves ensuring universal basic education, creating opportunities
for lifelong learning, and supporting tertiary education in science and technology (S&T).
Communication and dissemination of knowledge through print and electronic media take diverse and
innovative forms.
This paper looks at knowledge production in different countries vis-à-vis their economic strength,
and specifically positions the developing world within this landscape. The countries, displayed in a
single diagram (see Figure 1) in terms of their relative economic strength and indigenous scientific
and technological capacities, were presented by Mashelkar during his Zuckerman lecture [1].
_______________________
* Tel: +91-20-25902197; fax: +91-20-25902607
E-mail address: ram@ncl.res.in (R.A. Mashelkar)
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Fig. 1 Indigenous S&T capacity. Source: [1]
In the top right corner are nations such as the U.S. and Japan, and several European countries, all
of which are developed. They have a very high indigenous S&T capacity and a very high economic
strength.
In contrast, in the lower left quadrant are the least-developed countries, including those in subSaharan Africa, where both indigenous S&T capacity and economic strength are very low.
In the top left quadrant are countries that, by virtue of considerable natural resources, have
attained high economic strength (e.g., the oil-rich Middle East countries). But at present they have
little indigenous S&T capacity.
The lower right quadrant includes nations with high indigenous S&T capacity but relatively low
economic strength, such as India, China, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, and Egypt. These
countries are called Innovative Developing Countries [2, 3].
The positions of the developing nations in this diagram are not static. At different times in history
countries have occupied different positions. For instance, not long ago, Korea was in the lower left
quadrant, but today it has attained the status enjoyed by OECD countries, thanks to indigenous
companies like LG and Samsung, which dominate global markets and compete with the best in the
world—something that had not yet happened 30 years ago.
Over time, India’s position on this matrix also has shifted. Several centuries ago, Indian
civilization was characterized by scientific thought, capabilities, and techniques at levels for more
advanced than many countries. However, when the scientific and industrial revolutions took place in
the West a few hundred years ago, there was a period of stagnation in India. A highly feudalistic
structure developed. Lack of development over this period was the result of a hierarchical approach,
irrational subjective thinking, and a build-up of superstitions and ritualism.
Its society was in this state when India came under colonial domination. During the British
colonial period, scientific developments happened because of the efforts of a number of outstanding
Indians who worked during the 75 years prior to Indian independence. They include names such as
C.V. Raman, J.C. Bose, S.N. Bose, P. Mahalanobis — a spectacular array of thinkers. They were the
products of the ferment in Indian society, which motivated the struggle for freedom.
Remarkable changes in S&T took place after India acquired its independence in 1947, with a
strong foundation laid by India’s first prime-minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. To Nehru, science was not
just a tool for economic development but also a means of truly emancipating India by bringing about
a qualitative transformation in its stagnant society. The policy resolution of 1958, which dealt with
science, clearly reflected these beliefs:
R.A. Mashelkar / Technology in Society XX (2008) xxx-xxx
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It is an inherent obligation of a great country like India, with its tradition of scholarship and
original thinking and its great cultural heritage, to participate fully in the march of science,
which is probably mankind’s greatest enterprise today. [4]
This vision provided a vital impetus to Indian scientists in the early post-independence years. The
momentum has been maintained for the last few decades, and it is fair to say that Indian science and
technology in post-independence India can be viewed as a true source of national pride.
2. Four pillars of Indian science and technology
Science and technology in India rest on four pillars:
1. Techno-nationalism. In some fields, despite making every effort, India could not obtain certain
technologies, and the country had to make do with export control regimes. In addition, it was denied
so-called “dual-use” technology. In response, India developed its own technologies in space, defence,
nuclear energy, and supercomputers, among others. All were institutionally led, mission-based
technology delivery systems.
2. Inclusive growth. In S&T, where consideration of the population had been excluded, it is now
included in the development and growth process. This means making S&T work on behalf of the poor
of India, combining equity and excellence, creating products within the price-performance envelope
that are suited to those at the bottom of the pyramid and to the needs of India’s lower-middle class.
Discovery, development, and delivery of drugs and therapeutics vaccines that are available,
affordable, and accessible to the poor is one example. The recent launch of the Nano automobile by
Tatas, a low-cost (US$2500) vehicle for the lower-middle class, is another example. The green
revolution, which made India self-sufficient in food belongs to this category too, since its effect was
to include a vast majority of rural farmers who were otherwise excluded.
3. Techno-globalism. This refers to the strong interactions between the internationalization of
technology and the globalization of the economy, a widening cross-border interdependence between
individual-based sciences and economic sectors, and the location of knowledge production centres in
countries that offer the required skill base at low cost. In India, this led to multiple offshore R&D
services utilizing India’s low-cost scientific manpower. This resulted in Indian S&T talent being used
within the country, rather than outside the country, to create technology for global players [5].
For example, GE set up its R&D in India because India offered the highest intellectual capital per
dollar spent. Taking advantage of this, more than 300 multinational companies have set up their R&D
centres in India, including GE, IBM, Microsoft, Dupont, Dow, Shell, and General Motors. Indian
scientists and researchers have created intellectual property for numerous foreign firms. This trend
toward globalizing R&D is expanding into other activities, including diverse types of knowledge
process outsourcing, other IT-based services, and clinical trials and testing, all at similar cost
advantages.
4. Global leadership. Such leadership demands substantial improvements in the quality of basic
research, creating ‘innovation ecosystems’ comprised of forward-looking intellectual property (IP)
laws, venture capital, and so forth. The aim is to see that tomorrow’s Silicon Valley and Genome
Valley are created in India. This also means that Indian IQ will not be used just to create IP for
multinational companies (as is implicit in S&T techno-globalism), but Indian IQ will generate IP for
Indian companies as they step up their R&D spending by several orders of magnitude. This leadership
will also coincide with stronger participation among globally dispersed Indians and their eventual
return to India, as is already beginning to happen. It also means that the “brain drain” phenomenon
will be reversed.
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In the following, I review the development of each pillar: the way it was built and strengthened,
and the way it has changed the Indian S&T and innovation landscapes.
3. The first pillar: S&T driven by techno-nationalism
India is among the few countries of the world with a comprehensive defence and research
infrastructure that builds sophisticated weapons and weapons systems, including numerous missiles
and rocket systems. It also has developed low-level tracking radar, high-vision devices, and
sophisticated sonar systems, and a light-combat aircraft and remotely piloted vehicle are in the
advanced stages of development.
India’s capability in nuclear science and technology, including nuclear fast-breeder reactors, is
the result of indigenous effort. The entire range of technologies, from the prospecting of raw materials
to the design and construction of large nuclear reactors is now available on a self-reliant basis.
3.1 Space
India ranks among the few nations of the world that have a credible capability in space science
and technology, including the design and construction of satellites and launch vehicle technology.
The Indian space programme, for example, designed and sent into space a series of satellites that
comprise the largest domestic communication system in the Asia-Pacific region. It also developed a
variety of launch vehicles, the most recent being a geo-synchronous version. These developments
helped with the application of space technology to national needs in communication, meteorology,
broadcasting, and remote sensing. All of this has been achieved in a relatively cost-effective manner.
In the mid-1980s, the U.S. decision to deny the transfer of supercomputer technology became the
impetus for India’s entry into this difficult technology domain on its own. In addition, there have been
path-breaking developments in parallel computing.
3.2 Supercomputers
The launch of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in 1987 marked the
start of India’s foray into supercomputing, and in 1991, India developed its first supercomputer
PARAM 8000 based on a parallel processing architecture using transputers. PARAM 8000 was built
at a cost less than that of a CRAY YMP system, in a span of less than three years—what was required
at the time to import and install large computer systems in India.
The entire technology covering hardware, low-latency high-bandwidth system area network,
operating system kernel, compilers, and integrated parallel processing environment were all
developed from scratch. Several applications covering weather forecasting, CFD, FEM, seismic data
processing, oil reservoir modeling, satellite image processing, and launch vehicle simulation were
developed.
Development of indigenous supercomputers, such as PARAM by C-DAC, Flowsolver by
National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), ANUPAM by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC),
and ANURAG by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), have established India
as one of the world’s key players in this field. India chose the cluster architecture as early as 1994 for
building its teraflop supercomputers, when it was not clear as to which architecture would eventually
win the race. Indeed, PARAM 10000, announced in 1998, was built with a cluster of Ultrasparc
workstations. PARAM Padma, built in 2002, reached a performance peak of a teraflop, which put it
into the Top 500 list.
The focus then shifted to connecting the facilities as a grid. C-DAC proposed the creation of
Garuda Grid with a nationwide WAN. The long voyage in high performance computing was not a
smooth sail by any reckoning. It was plagued by several difficulties, including embargos on critical
components, architectural debates, make-versus-buy dilemmas, loss of key talent to multinationals,
and bureaucratic hurdles. Nevertheless, by 2005 India had firmly established its ability to design and
develop terascale supercomputers.
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It is interesting to reflect on this long journey. With their ever-widening use, supercomputers are
increasingly regarded as a strategic resource. When supercomputers were denied to India in the early
1980s, even though they were to be used only for weather forecasting, India decided to enter this field
via the alternative route of parallel processing. India’s journey from 1986 onward shows how
indigenous innovation changes the control regime and vice versa [6].
CSIR’s National Aerospace Laboratory at Bangalore developed the FLOSOLVER Mk 1, the
parallel computing product for computational fluid dynamics, which demonstrated its feasibility in
1986. This led Cray Research in the U.S. to negotiate with India’s Meteorological Department on its
safety requirements. The same firm was reluctant to have a dialogue with India earlier.
In 1987, the major initiatives to create the Centre for Development of Advanced Computation (CDAC) in Pune were launched to develop an Indian supercomputer based on massively parallel
processing-based architecture. The U.S., which was unwilling to give a supercomputer to India
earlier, in 1988 responded by approving the export of the Cray XMP 14 to India, under certain
restrictions. There were conditions on its non-nuclear use as well as in situ surveillance by U.S.
government officials.
In 1989, the combined efforts of C-DAC, DRDO, BARC, and NAL to develop parallel
processing supercomputers gained ground and signs of success were visible. Later, C-DAC
successfully demonstrated the PARAM-8000, a supercomputer with a peak computing power of 1000
M-Flops. In 1990, the Los Alamos (Worlton) report concluded that supercomputers were not
necessary to design nuclear weapons.
In 1991-92, C-DAC exported its PARAM supercomputers to Canada, Germany, and Russia,
while others, such as NAL’s FLOSOLVER Mk III, and DRDOs’ PACE, matched the capabilities of
U.S.-made, mid-range workstations. In December 1992, the U.S. Office of Naval Research sent an
official to Bangalore to assess Indian capabilities in supercomputing. In 1993, the U.S. authorised the
licensed conditional export of high-performance computers to several Indian institutions.
In November 1994, C-DAC’s PARAM 8000 was displayed at the Super Computing ‘94
Exposition in Washington. It was announced that a more advanced supercomputer machine with 10
G-flops would be achievable by the end of 1995, and that export of such supercomputers from India
to developing countries was possible. In response, the U.S. diluted even further its export
requirements on high- performance computers.
In April 1995, India placed parallel processing supercomputing on its list of items requiring an
Indian export license. In July 1995, the U.S. began to review its supercomputers export controls and
in October 1995, further relaxed the export of computers to India.
In 1998, C-DAC launched PARAM 10,000, which demonstrated India’s capacity to build 100gigaflop machines, which are further scalable to teraflops, which enabled India to reach levels
reached by other advanced nations. In response, the U.S. further relaxed its export controls. During
the same year, CRAY established a subsidiary in India; the same company had denied CRAY
supercomputers in 1980s. Then on May 11, 1998, came Pokhran II. In response, the U.S. put a
complete ban on several components including chips. A new saga began.
What is apparent in this chain of innovations is that India’s innovations in supercomputers forced
changes in the export control regimes. India’s ability to receive the technology embedded in
supercomputers simply depended on its own technological preparedness.
There are some interesting lessons in this supercomputer saga. When the idea of building
supercomputers through parallel processing gained ground in 1985, Germany launched a DM100
million project called ‘Suprenum’, and gave its scientists five years to build parallel processing-based
supercomputers. However, the project was abandoned mid-way for several reasons, including
management issues between the university and industry, due to the fact that there was no driving
force, since Germany had other options. India went ahead because it had no other options.
The other interesting note is that in 1988 the Russians offered a supercomputer to India.
However, the Indian team that visited Russia was not impressed with it and in the end, India did not
buy any supercomputers from Russia, nor did it become dependent on Russian technology. Indeed,
the Russians have been importing Indian supercomputers since the early 1990s; the PARAM 10000
supercomputer was installed a few years ago.
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4. The second pillar: S&T for inclusive growth
A sizable portion of the population of India falls below the poverty line. Therefore, technological
priorities for the poor in rural areas of the developing world include, among others, modern seed
varieties and other inputs for growing food; solar-powered motors to run pumps, farm machinery, and
vehicles that transport produce to market (where animal traction or human leg-power are no longer
the main means); electricity; vaccines, antibiotics, and other medicines; radio, TV and now, of course,
Internet connectivity.
Some of these are rather mundane technologies in use for many generations in the developed
world. Others were developed to address technical problems in specific developing countries and
might be classed as “intermediate/appropriate technologies.” They represent economically important
technologies that have the potential to increase the productivity of a given resource or give greater
human satisfaction within a limited cost.
In broad terms, three types of technologies have helped reduce poverty and/or improved the
quality of life of the poor:



process technologies, which result in increased efficiency and/or improved quality of
resources that give a country its comparative advantage, such as agriculture, animal
husbandry (including leather), mining, etc.
product technologies, that is, new products with direct benefits to consumers (e.g., medicines,
mechanical devices such as an artificial foot, low-cost sanitary napkins, nutrients, etc.); and
enabling technologies, which facilitate coordination, information sharing, and exchanges
between buyers and sellers or other sets of economic agents, thereby reducing transaction
costs.
4.1 State-funded support
The question is, who will provide such S&T for inclusive growth? To address this and other
issues, at the state level, several R&D institutes were created to focus on technology problems at the
state or regional level. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Indian Council
of Medical Research (ICMR), and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) not only have
their own research institutes but they also financially support research at universities as well as
network projects involving scientists from each other’s institutes and from industrial research centers.
An example from the CSIR system illustrates the way such delivery systems work. About 15
years ago, the bulk of menthol-rich essential oil for international use came from Brazil and China;
later China and India became the major exporters. In the last few years, India moved into the top
position in the trade of essential oil and its products. In turn, this generated strong employment at the
bottom of the pyramid and greatly enhanced the earnings of the rural poor. This achievement was the
outgrowth of sustained effort by CSIR’s Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP)
during the 1990s. It developed and produced new varieties and combinations of traits, such as higher
yields of oil as well as oil rich in menthol, improved regeneration potential, tolerance to rust, vigorous
growth, and high biomass. A new menthol-producing plant Saksham (U.S. Patent No. PP13,279)
developed by CIMAP, was created through innovative metabolic engineering.
Another example is the leather industry, which creates millions of jobs throughout the pyramid,
with the bottom-most part of the pyramid a strong beneficiary. The Leather Technology Mission
(LTM), aimed at creating a technology-driven development grid that integrates the needs of the
decentralized as well as organized sectors, was launched in 1995 with CSIR as the implementing
institution.
The approach for project implementation included identifying areas of technology support
(choosing technologies relevant to the social context); modes and mechanisms for technology
delivery and implementation; establishing linkages and networks with agencies (NGOs,
industry/industry association, academia, user ministries, Village Industries Commission, state
government agencies) to ensure sustainability of outputs delivered; and monitoring outputs through
peer review and third-party audit.
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For example, a technology interaction that benefited the bottom of the pyramid is the manufacture
of Kolhapuri chappals (Indian ethnic footwear) from bag-tanned leather. This is a traditional
occupation of artisans in the Athani-Miraj-Nippani belt of Maharashtra and Karnataka states. It has
high socioeconomic value, as hundreds of families are involved in this cottage industry. CLRI
demonstrated an improved bag-tanning process to the artisans, specifically highlighting the reduced
process time (from 35 days to 15 days), uniform product, improved quality, and approximately 30%
higher yield. A standardised stamping process and computer-aided designs produced subtle changes,
and as a result, exports of this footwear zoomed, leading to improved economic well being.
4.2 Private-sector support
Although it is primarily the government-funded S&T institutions, such as CSIR, ICMR, or ICAR,
that have led the inclusive-growth effort, the private sector has also created technologies that benefit
the bottom of the pyramid. The following example illustrates how the IT sector provides support.
India has about 200 million adults who cannot read or write. Illiteracy is declining slowly, at the
rate of about 1.5% per year. India needs more trained teachers. Current conventional methods of
learning, from alphabets to words, requires approximately 200 hours of instruction, which means
India will need 20 years to attain a literacy level of 95%. The challenge—and the need— is to do it in
less than five years.
The great doyen of the Indian IT industry, F.C. Kohli, while at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),
led a team that developed a computer-based functional literacy (CBFL) method that focuses on
reading ability and is based on theories of cognition, language, and communication. In this method,
scripted graphic patterns, icons, and images are recognized through a combination of auditory and
visual experiences using computers. The method emphasizes learning words rather than alphabetical
letters. While the focus is on reading, it also triggers the desire to learn to write.
Using this method, Kohli’s team developed innovative methodologies using IT and computers to
build reading capability. Their experiment was first conducted in Medak, a village near Hyderabad.
Without a trained teacher, the women of the village were able to read newspapers in 8 to 10 weeks.
Thereafter, Kohli’s team carried out additional experiments covering six states, and the results were
spectacular.
Kohli’s team developed these lessons to run on Intel 486s and early versions of Pentium PCs that
were modified to display multimedia. There are perhaps 200 million of these PCs in the world, most
of which have been discarded as obsolete. By using these PCs, the cost of making one person literate
would be less than Rs.100 (about US$2.50). Using CBFL, literacy could be increased to 90-95%
within 3 to 5 years, instead of 20 years. However, this will require a national mission to remove
illiteracy by using the CBFL approach.
4.3 Public-private partnerships
It is not just the public or private sectors acting alone, but well-designed and executed publicprivate partnerships that have been beneficial in delivering affordable products to the poor. An
excellent example is a public-private partnership that resulted in access to cost-effective anti-AIDS
therapeutics. When multinational corporations offered anti-retroviral (ARV) compounds for HIVAIDS at a price of $10,000 for a year’s treatment, an Indian company that had utilized the know-how
obtained from a CSIR laboratory was able to offer the same compound for $300. This not only
lowered the cost of such medicines, but also raised a debate on intellectual property rights versus
public health. Ultimately it led to the Doha Declaration, which affirms certain concessions regarding
access to affordable medicines by the poor of the world.
4.4 Educational institutions
Some institutions of higher education also have been active in working on problems that affect
the poor. For instance, the Telecommunication and Networking (TelNet) group at the Indian Institute
of Technology in Chennai has developed ICT solutions that deliver a menu of services, uch as health
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care by telemedicine, agricultural consulting via Internet, education, communication, banking,
entertainment, and E-governance. Early experiments showed that ICT can be a critical tool for
empowering rural India, and people are willing to pay for improvements in their quality of life. This
makes it a sustainable option and generates employment. This was an initiative taken by an academic
group and put into operation by start-up ventures rather than supported by any research councils.
But it is not only S&T delivered by the public or private sector that leads to inclusive growth. The
problems of the poor are identified by the poor themselves, and it is the subsequent intervention by
formal S&T systems that makes the huge difference. For example, when drawing water from wells,
women become tired and sometimes need to rest and catch their breath. But during that period of rest,
she must continue to hold the rope with a water-filled bucket tied to it. A momentary loosening of her
grip will likely result in the bucket falling into the well. Although communities have devised ways of
retrieving the fallen bucket from the well (e.g., using hooks tied to another rope), this did not prevent
the bucket from falling into the well. Then an artisan solved the problem by attaching a small lever on
the pulley. The lever did not get in the way while pulling on the rope, but the moment the tension on
the rope slackened, the lever pressed against it and arrested the downward movement, thus keeping
the water-filled bucket in its position. With the new system, even an older lady or a weaker person
could take a rest, chat, and then resume the filling operation. Thousands of such pulleys are now
being installed all across Gujarat villages, and the design will undoubtedly spread to the rest of India.
Can you imagine the relief this will bring to millions of poor women who draw water from wells in
India everyday?
Thousands of such innovations are occurring throughout India. The question is: How do we
capture, improve, scale, and spread them? To this end, the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) was
established by the Government of India to perform several core functions [7]:



Scout and document nationwide grass-roots innovations so that a National Register of Innovation
can be created.
Complete the value chain for green grass-roots innovators by supporting the improvement of
innovative products through R&D linkages with formal institutions, such as CSIR, ICMR, ICAR,
IITs, etc.
Provide added value, business development, IP management and dissemination, and IT
management support.
To date, NIF has registered thousands of innovations by grass-roots innovators, and has done a
remarkable job of performing the above functions with meager resources. Currently, the Indian
government is trying to ramp up this activity so it will have a broad impact nationwide.
5. S&T driven by techno-globalism
India is rapidly becoming a global R&D hub in terms of its talented human resources who are
used to provide R&D services to companies around the world. Around 300 companies have set up
R&D centres in India during the last ten years alone as part of a grand plan by many leading
enterprises to build an innovation platform through multiple sources of innovations.
Why has multi-sourcing gained such prominence? There is an increasing pressure to shorten
international market penetration time for new products, to shorten R&D times, and to decrease the
market lifetime for new products. Innovations are beginning to have multiple geographic and
organisational sources of technology with increasingly differentiated and innovation-specific patterns
of diffusion. R&D in high-technology industries such as biotechnology, microelectronics,
pharmaceuticals, IT, and new materials has become highly science-based. The costs of doing R&D
are also increasing exponentially. At the same time, there has been a progressive weakening of the
importance of central corporate laboratories in large firms. Firms worldwide are becoming highly
selective, with internal developments focused on critical products and processes. These internal
efforts are complemented by external technology acquisitions on a global basis, with some companies
spending as much as half of their R&D budget on “open innovation networks.”
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Creation of seamless laboratories around the world is also being helped by the evolution of global
information networks that allow real-time management and operation of laboratories in any part of
the world. Companies gain a competitive advantage by using global knowledge resources and
working with a global time clock. The trend is also fuelled by a shortage of R&D personnel in some
emerging high-tech areas in industrialised countries. Companies must bridge that demand-supply gap
by external outsourcing. Obtaining access to high-quality scientists, engineers, and designers is now
at the top of the agenda for many major companies.
Another issue is the demographic shift taking place in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, as its
population and workforce become older. This means that a country like India, with a demographic
profile that includes a large proportion of working and talented young people, can become a global
innovation hub. Not only will outsourcing of innovation be done, but R&D-based innovation centers
will be set up by these enterprises. India’s advantages will be both cost and competence, considering
its huge talent pool of world-class technical manpower. India has over 250 universities, 1,500 R&D
units, and several IITs and engineering colleges. It has the world’s largest chain of publicly funded
R&D institutions. This is an extraordinarily rich resource that has been underutilized even within
India’s own R&D sector.
The National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) at CSIR was a pioneer in recognising and benefitting
from techno-globalism. The process of R&D globalisation began in NCL in 1989, two years before
the winds of liberalisation started blowing. Today it has an impressive list of international customers,
including Dupont, Dow, Eastman, ICI, GE, Cargil, and UoP. NCL recognised then that the
competitive advantage in a high-technology business is increasingly dependent on the technical skills
of the organisation rather than on particular products. As product life cycles become shorter, skill life
cycles become longer. In such a situation, the product becomes the intermediary between the
organisation’s skills and the market it serves. Rather than being the focus of corporate activity,
products will actually be transient mechanisms by which the market derives value from an
organisation’s skill base, while the organisation derives value from the market. NCL continually asks:
“What skills, capabilities and technologies should we build up?”, rather than the stereotypical
question: “Which products or processes should we develop and for which market?’ This shift in
strategy has paid handsomely.
While inaugurating GE’s Jack Welch R&D Centre in Bangalore a decade ago, Welch noted that
India was generally perceived to be a developing country, but he thought it was a developed country
as far its intellectual infrastructure was concerned. How does one measure intellectual capital per
dollar? Is it based on scientific publications in top peer-reviewed journals per dollar invested? Is it
citations received by these publications per dollar? Is it patents produced per dollar?
Mashelkar calculated these numbers by looking at them based on GDP per capita per year [2].
David King [8] also provided data (see Tables 1 and 2) that show India occupying the top slot. The
reasons for India being a favoured destination are clear. However, these relative rankings are likely to
shift as China surges ahead of India as a result of China’s massive investment in S&T.
Table 1
Scientific (SCI) publications
Country
India
China
United States
Germany
United Kingdom
Japan
Canada
Italy
Korea, Rep.
France
Source: [8]
SCI Publications
(1997-2001)
77201
115339
1265808
318286
342535
336858
166216
147023
55739
232058
GDP Per Capita
487
989
36006
24051
26445
31407
22777
20528
10006
240461
SCI Publications
Per GDP per Capita/Per year
32
23
7
3
3
2
1
1
1
2
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Table 2
Citations (SCI)
Country
SCI Citations
(1997-2001
GDP
Per Capita
India
China
United States
United Kingdom
Germany
Japan
Canada
Italy
South Korea
France
188,481
341,519
10,850,549
2,500,035
2,199,617
1,852,271
1,164,450
964,164
192,346
1,513,090
487
989
36,006
26,445
24,051
31,407
22,777
20,528
10,006
240,461
SCI Citations
Per GDP, per Capita, Per
year
77
69
60
19
18
12
10
10
4
1
Source: [8]
Techno-globalism in India will have major social, economic, political, and strategic significance,
with a corresponding impact on the current “brain drain.” As India becomes a great R&D centre, the
world’s best companies will undertake their most challenging R&D in India. and these challenges are
even now drawing young Indian scientists and engineers back to their home country. The demand on
science will increase enormously, which will lead to demand for the creation of new human resources
and the growth of new institutions. This is already beginning to occur.
Another implication is the enhanced competition among institutions and firms to seek the best
human resources to work for them. This mean that institutions will have to create an intellectually
stimulating, rewarding, and ‘hassle-free’ environment in order to retain such researchers. In the long
run, however, the Indian industry itself will benefit. The researchers who will work in these nonIndian innovation enterprises will acquire insights and skills that would be impossible to acquire
otherwise. At present most of these skilled Indians reside abroad, but no more so. In the coming
years, they will prefer to reside and work in India. Indian industry will reap enormous benefits from
this supply of superior R&D leadership as the “brain drain” becomes “brain gain” and then moves on
to “brain circulation.”
6. S&T for global leadership
India’s first freedom came in 1947, as a political freedom. India’s second freedom, however,
came only in 1991 when the Indian economy was liberated and opened up. Prior to that time, huge
tariff barriers protected Indian industry. There was no incentive for innovation since there was no
competition in the marketplace. It was not a buyer’s market; it was a seller’s market. After 1991,
however, the situation changed dramatically. Competition moved in and is now here to stay. Its
influence is dramatic and can be illustrated by the breakthrough of India’s leading industrial
enterprise.
In 1978, J.R.D. Tata, head of Tata Group, said “If I was allowed to make a car, I would have been
as good at it as TELCO (a Tata company) was in trucks.’ But he was not allowed to make a car. It
was not until post-liberalised India (1993) that Tata was allowed to make cars. The first was Indica, a
totally indigenous Indian car, which created its own niche in the world market.
On 10 January 2008, Tata launched what they call “the people’s car,” which they named Nano. If
the confidence inspired by the success of Indica had not occurred, Tata would not have followed with
Nano. It is supposed to be a game-changing technology in the auto industry since it represents a
paradigm shift in low-cost transport at a purchase price of only $2,500. It has excellent fuel efficiency
(25 km/litre), offers Euro IV standards on emissions, and has unique styling and engineering.
R.A. Mashelkar / Technology in Society XX (2008) xxx-xxx
11
The Indian drug and pharmaceutical industry has gone through a similar process. Indian IP laws
were designed in such a way that only process patents were accepted, but product patents were not. In
response, the Indian industry created a strong base by copying new molecules introduced in the
Western world. This was perfectly legitimate, but it also meant that there was no drive to create new
molecules.
On 1 January 2005, in fulfillment of its TRIPS obligation, Indian IP laws were changed, and
product patents became acceptable. In anticipation of the change, the drug/pharmaceutical industry
began investing heavily in innovation. Research portfolios changed from innovative process
chemistry to innovative product development, including developing new molecules and new drug
delivery systems. Investment in R&D, which had hovered around 1% to 3% of sales turnover, began
to climb, in some cases reaching 10% to 15%. The demand for research scientists, such as structural
biologists, systems biologists, and medicinal chemists, began to rise.
In addition, the government devised several funding strategies to stimulate risk-taking in Indian
industry. One such initiative is the New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative
(NMITLI). In the pre-1991 era, Indian industry focused only on areas where markets were certain
(because there were imported products in that marketplace) and technologies were certain (because all
they had to do was copy these products by reverse engineering). However, NMITLI positioned itself
in a matrix quadrant where technologies were uncertain and markets were uncertain. This meant
taking risks, and NMITLI was the first program not only to encourage risk-taking but to tolerate
failure. This resulted in a paradigm shift in the culture of innovation. Today over 80 private-sector
companies and more than 200 research institutions are working together on several risky
programmes, and breakthroughs are beginning to appear.
For instance, after 1963, when Rifampycin was discovered, there was no new drug for
tuberculosis. It was a programme supported by NMITLI that led to the discovery and development of
Sudoterb, a completely new chemical entity that clears up tuberculosis in two months rather than six
to eight months. This was the breakthrough that the world had been looking for! In another example,
NMITLI has created world-class products in bio-informatics, such as “Bio-suite,” by linking an IT
leader like Tata Consultancy Services with 19 top institutions. In a third example, many organizations
were looking for a personal computer in the US$100 price range. A programme supported by
NMITLI created Mobilis, an innovative mobile PC with the potential to meet that price if a large
enough scale of production is achieved. Clearly, breakthroughs are in the pipeline. NMITLI has
created a new spirit of adventure, which Indian industry and Indian institutions had never experienced
before.
Just as India was not known for discovering new molecules but then it came out with the
tuberculosis breakthrough, so India had never been in the top 10 of the world’s fastest 500
supercomputers. This has now changed. In the prestigious SC007 conference held in 2007, the EKA
supercomputer developed by Tata’s Computer Research Laboratory (CRL) was judged to be the
fastest in Asia and fourth fastest in the world. CRL has already integrated a supercomputer using the
Hewlett-Packard cluster platform 3000DL460C with its own innovative routing and packaging
technology that achieves 117.9 teraflops.
What is significant is that the development of supercomputers was driven by government
laboratories in the spirit of techno-nationalism, whereas a private-sector player has now entered the
race. Second, the entire CRL facility was set up for the relatively small cost of $30 million. An Indian
enterprise took advantage of India’s high intellectual capital per dollar and gained a competitive
advantage.
This success has given rise to India’s ambition to enter the petaflops competition. Twenty years
ago, in 1987, the question was: “Can India develop a supercomputer?” The answer given then was an
emphatic yes! Now the question is: “Can India build a petaflop supercomputer along with US and
Japan?” The current positive mood augurs well for India taking a leadership position.
India’s largest private-sector company, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), had grown in scale, scope,
and cost. Now it has declared its intention to expand its innovation with major investments in R&D.
Other enterprises are also boosting their investment in R&D. This will create a major demand for
Indian talent.
12
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There is also increasing demand on science in India. In response, there is renewed investment in
science education and research. The government of India announced the creation of 30 new central
universities, 5 new Indian institutes of science education and research, 8 new Indian Institutes of
Technology, and 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology. There are new national
missions in nanotechnology and biotechnology, and new institutions in these fields as well.
To meet the ever-increasing demand for scientific manpower, more school children are being
encouraged to enter science. To enlarge the pool of scientific manpower and foster research in science
a programme entitled `Innovation in Science Pursuing High Inspired Research” (INSPIRE), has been
launched, which will cover one million students and provide attractive science innovation
scholarships. Specific education programmes are being launched in strategic sectors, such as nuclear
and space sciences at the school level. Several other initiatives are in the offing. All of these
initiatives support India’s S&T leadership ambitions.
7. Concluding comments
With the twentieth century just concluded, India now faces the challenges of science and
technology in the twenty-first century. So, what is India’s scorecard for the twentieth century? One of
the country’s foremost scientists, Jayant Narlikar, in his book Scientific Edge, lists the top ten
achievements of Indian S&T [9]. They are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Mathematics (1920s) (S. Ramanujam)
Ionization equation (1920s) (Meghnad Saha)
Particle statistics (1922) (S.N. Bose)
Raman Effect (1928) (C.V. Raman)
Molecular Biophysics (mid-1950s) (G.N. Ramachandran)
Atomic Energy Commission / Nuclear Power (1950s)
Green Revolution (1970s)
Space Program (late 1970s)
Superconductivity (late 1980s)
CSIR Transformation (late 1990s)
One could say that none of the achievements by Indian scientists in the latter half of the twentieth
century (as listed by Prof. Narlikar) are path-breaking in comparison to the work done by earlier
scientists such as Ramanujam and Raman. Clearly, this judgment is subjective, but it still raises
legitimate concerns.
India must focus on basic science, which is an endless frontier, a uniquely human activity without
limits. This pursuit is guided by the spirit of discovering the truth, and its outlook is universal. The
decline of Indian contributions to this endeavour, both qualitatively and quantitatively, is a matter of
deep concern. To build a strong structure for basic research, new mechanisms and funding will have
to be established. The Indian government’s recent initiative to set up the National Science &
Engineering Research Foundation, including a quantum jump in funding of basic research, is a
welcome step.
In the coming years, India should aim for world leadership in at least some areas. Future Indian
science should be based on daring and creativity, and it should try to be a leader, not a follower.
Promoting curiosity-based basic research with a new sense of adventure should be the Indian
endeavour. Realizing science as a social movement, and developing a scientific temper, demands not
merely governmental programmes but actions undertaken by leaders in various sectors, people’s
groups, and non-governmental organizations.
In the characteristically integrative Indian tradition, equity, environment, ecology, and economics
must be viewed, not in isolation, but in tandem. The environment will have to be viewed as a unique
national asset. The study of the relationship between the land use and soil processes, mechanisms of
global environmental change, industry-environment interactions, and predictions of our
R.A. Mashelkar / Technology in Society XX (2008) xxx-xxx
13
environment— particularly with respect to the human impact—will require innovative tools of
science and technology.
One of the hallmarks of Indian civilization, even from the very ancient times, was to develop
harmony with life and nature and to establish the infinite potential of human development. As a longterm vision, India should strive to lead the world in establishing and demonstrating harmony in the
sciences as well as in the development and application of science with ethics as its core.
India’s dream of finding a place in the comity of nations will be fulfilled by two conditions. The
first is the universal recognition of India’s undeniable progress; the second is the inclusion of the
scientific temperament as an essential part of the intellectual, emotional, social, and cultural life of all
our masses, not just a select few. For this, the power of science and technology will need to be
harnessed in order to uplift the poor and downtrodden. If this happens, then India will become a
model for other countries to emulate.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Mashelkar RA. Innovation Strategy Today. 10th Zuckermann Lecture. Available at: <http://
www.biodevelopments.org/innovation/index.htm>.
Mashelkar RA. Education for Innovation: Implications for India, China and America. DeHaan RL,
Venkatnarayan KJ, editors. Atlanta: Sense Publications; 2007.
Morel CM, et al. Health Innovation Networks to Help Developing Countries Address Neglected
Diseases. Science 2005;309:401-404.
Government of India. Scientific Policy Resolution. New Delhi. March 4, 1958. Available at:
<http://nrdms.gov.in/sci_policy.asp>.
Mashelkar RA. India’s R&D: Reaching for the Top. Science 2005;307:1415-1417.
Mashelkar RA. Resurgence of innovative India: the challenge and the strategy. Available at:
<http://www.nifindia.org>.
National Innovation Foundation website. Available at <http://www.nifindia.org>.
King D. The Scientific Impact of Nations. Nature 2004 (July 15); 430: 311.
Narlikar JV. Scientific Edge. New Delhi: Penguin Books; 2003.
R.A. Mashelkar, CSIR Bhatnagar Fellow, is also the current President of Global Research Alliance, a network of publicly
funded R&D institutes from Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the U.S. He served as the Director General of the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for more than 11 years. He was also President of the Indian National Science
Academy from 2005-2007. Mashelkar is only the third Indian engineer to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)
in the twentieth century. He was elected Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Science (U.S.) in 2005, a Foreign
Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2003, a Fellow of the World Academy of Arts & Sciences (U.S.) in
2000, and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (U.K) in 1996. Twenty-six universities have honoured him with
honorary doctorates.
In August 1997, Business India named Mashelkar among the top 50 path-breakers in the post-independent India. In
1998, Dr. Mashelkar won the JRD Tata Corporate Leadership Award, the first scientist to win it. In June 1999, Business
India did a cover story on Mashelkar as CEO of CSIR. In November 2005, he received the Business Week (U.S.) award as a
‘Star of Asia’ from George H.W. Bush, former President of the U.S.
In post-liberalized India, Mashelkar played a key role in shaping India’s S&T policies. He was a member of the
Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and also of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet set up by
successive governments. He has chaired twelve committees established to consider issues of higher education, national auto
fuel policies, overhauling the Indian drug regulatory system and dealing with the menace of spurious drugs, and reforming
India’s agriculture research system. He is a consultant for restructuring publicly funded R&D institutions worldwide.
Mashelkar has more than 50 awards and medals, including the S.S. Bhatnagar Prize (1982), Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
Technology Award (1991), G.D. Birla Scientific Research Award (1993), Material Scientist of Year Award (2000), IMC
Juran Quality Medal (2002), HRD Excellence Award (2002), Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public
Administration and Management Sciences (2002), World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Medal of
Engineering Excellence by WFEO, Paris (2003), Lifetime Achievement Award by Indian Science Congress (2004), the
Science medal by the Academy of Science for the Developing World (2005), Ashutosh Mookherjee Memorial Award by
Indian Science Congress (2005), etc. The President of India honoured Mashelkar with Padmashri (1991) and with
Padmabhushan (2000), two of India’s highest civilian honours, in recognition of his contribution to building the nation.