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Current Affairs Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

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Topic: Science and Technology Indicators

Why in News?

• As per the Research and Development (R&D) Statistics and Indicators 2019- 20, India’s gross expenditure in R&D has tripled between 2008 & 2018 driven mainly by government sector and scientific publications have risen placing the country internationally among the top few.
• These indicators are based on the national science and technology (S&T) survey 2018 brought out by the National Science and Technology Management Information (NSTMIS).

Key Findings

• The Gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) in the country has been consistently increasing over the years and has nearly tripled from Rs. 39,437.77 crore in 2007- 08 to Rs. 1,13,825.03 crore in 2017-18.
• India’s per capita R&D expenditure has increased to PPP $ 47.2 in 2017-18 from PPP $ 29.2 in 2007-08.
• India spent 0.7% of its GDP on R&D in 2017-18, while the same among other developing BRICS countries was Brazil 1.3%, Russian Federation 1.1%, China 2.1% and South Africa 0.8%.
• DST and Department of Bio-Technology (DBT) were the two major players contributing 63% and 14%, respectively of the total extramural R&D support in the country during 2016-17.
• Women participation in extramural R&D projects has increased significantly to 24% in 2016-17 from 13% in 2000-01 due to various initiatives undertaken by the government in S&T sector.
• As on 1st April 2018, nearly 5.52 lakh personnel were employed in the R&D establishments in the country.
• Number of researchers per million population in India has increased to 255 in 2017 from 218 in 2015 and 110 in 2000.
• India’s R&D expenditure per researcher was 185 (‘000 PPP$) during 2017-18 and was ahead of Russian Federation, Israel, Hungary, Spain and UK.
• India occupies 3rd rank in terms of number of Ph.D.’s awarded in Science and Engineering (S&E) after USA (39,710 in 2016) and China (34,440 in 2015).
• During 2018, India was ranked at 3rd, 5th and 9th in scientific publication output as per the NSF, SCOPUS and SCI database respectively.
• During 2011-2016, India’s growth rate of scientific publication as per the SCOPUS and SCI database was 8.4% and 6.4% as against the world average of 1.9% and 3.7%, respectively.
• During 2017-18 a total of 47,854 patents were filed in India. Out of which, 15,550 (32%) patents were filed by Indian residents.
• Patent applications filed in India are dominated by disciplines like Mechanical, Chemical, Computer/Electronics, and Communication.
• According to WIPO, India’s Patent Office stands at the 7th position among the top 10 Patent Filing Offices in the world.

About NSTMIS

• The National Science and Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS) is a division of Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• It has been entrusted with the task of building the information base on a continuous basis on resources devoted to scientific and technological activities for policy planning in the country.