NITI Aayog has released a major policy report Ease of Doing Research and Development in India: Removing Obstacles, Promoting Enablers, outlining a structural reform roadmap for India’s scientific and innovation ecosystem. The report is based on consultations with over 60 research institutions, 878 survey responses, and eight regional brainstorming sessions, aiming to identify operational barriers slowing India’s transition into a knowledge-driven economy.
The report argues that although India has improved its global standing in startup activity and scientific publications, the domestic R&D ecosystem remains constrained by fragmented funding systems, rigid compliance structures, delayed fellowships, and weak industry-academia commercialization pathways.
Structural Challenges and Proposed Reforms
A central concern highlighted in the report is India’s low Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD), which currently stands at 0.65% of GDP, significantly below major innovation economies where R&D expenditure exceeds 2% of GDP. The report notes that Indian R&D remains heavily dependent on public financing, with relatively low participation from private industry and philanthropic institutions.
To address these bottlenecks, NITI Aayog proposes a shift from compliance-heavy administrative oversight toward a trust-based, outcome-oriented governance framework. The recommendations emphasize digital automation, institutional autonomy, faster funding cycles, stronger postdoctoral ecosystems, and improved technology-transfer mechanisms.
Key Technical & Systemic Benchmarks
Current GERD: 0.65% of GDP
Proposed Target: Raise GERD to at least 2% of GDP in a phased manner
Consultation Scale: Inputs from 60+ institutions and 878 survey participants
Digital Reform Proposal: Unified Project Management System (UPMS) for grants
Fellowship Reform: “Vigyan Nidhi” platform for automated disbursals
Knowledge Access: Expansion of the One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) model
Systemic Challenges vs. Key Recommendations
The report pairs India’s six primary R&D structural pain points with direct, actionable policy enablers:
Identified Systemic Challenge | Proposed Key Recommendation & Policy Enabler |
Low and Public-Heavy Investment: GERD at 0.65% of GDP with low private industry or philanthropic participation. | Phased Fiscal Expansion: Raise GERD to 2% of GDP; reform corporate reporting to aggressively incentivize private capital. |
Funding Inefficiencies & Bureaucracy: Cumulative delays in proposal reviews, rigid financial auditing, and slow fund releases. | Unified Digital Rails (UPMS): Deploy a single-window portal for instant grant tracking, paired with flexible, decentralized fund usage. |
Human Resource & Fellowship Gaps: Low researcher density, delayed fellowship payouts, and weak postdoctoral pipelines. | The Vigyan Nidhi Platform: Automate fellowship disbursals to ensure zero delays, expand postdoctoral positions, and offer flexible hiring. |
Weak Technology Translation: High volume of publications and patents but low commercialization and weak industry-academia links. | Empowered Tech Transfer Offices: Standardize corporate MoU templates and launch state-level Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) Clusters. |
Knowledge and Access Disparities: Uneven regional access to scientific journals, infrastructure, and core research databases. | Democratized Access via ONOS: Expand the One Nation One Subscription model to cover private institutions and national software licensing. |
Compliance-Driven Oversight: Monitoring frameworks heavily focused on bureaucratic check-boxes rather than innovation outcomes. | Institutionalize NISPG: Establish the National Institute for Science Policy and Governance for data analytics and administrator capacity building. |
What is "Gross Expenditure on R&D" (GERD)?
Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) is a macroeconomic indicator that measures the total exchange of financial capital directed toward intramural research and experimental development performed within a country during a given fiscal year. GERD captures all cash flows across four primary executing sectors: business enterprises, higher education institutions, government laboratories, and private non-profit organizations. In national planning, GERD serves as the ultimate health check of an economy’s innovation capacity. A low GERD indicates that an economy is primarily consuming foreign intellectual property rather than generating high-value, sovereign technologies that drive long-term industrial self-reliance.
Policy Relevance
Targets Structural R&D Underinvestment: The recommendation to raise GERD to 2% of GDP reflects growing concern that India’s current R&D intensity remains too low to sustain long-term technological competitiveness.
Reduces Administrative Friction for Researchers: Digital systems such as UPMS and Vigyan Nidhi aim to reduce delays in grants and fellowships, allowing researchers to spend less time on compliance procedures and more on scientific work.
Strengthens Domestic Innovation Commercialization: The focus on Technology Transfer Offices and industry-academia linkages seeks to improve the conversion of research outputs into scalable industrial and commercial applications.
Expands Access to Scientific Knowledge Infrastructure: Extending ONOS and shared software access to smaller institutions could reduce regional disparities in research infrastructure and academic resources.
Builds Long-Term Science Governance Capacity: The proposed National Institute for Science Policy and Governance (NISPG) indicates a move toward more data-driven and institutionalised science-policy planning.
Follow the Full Paper Here: Ease of Doing Research and Development in India: Removing Obstacles, Promoting Enablers