New Delhi, Aug 11 (Mayank Nigam) Corporations can now invest in technology business incubators or contribute in research efforts carried out by institutions and national research laboratories as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. The Narendra Modi government said it has allowed corporations to invest in research and development (R&D) under the CSR provision to encourage the private sector to invest in the sector. Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said in Parliament on Tuesday that several steps have been taken to incentivise the private sector’s R&D participation by improving the ease of doing business in the STI activities. They include the introduction of flexible tools for public procurement; creation of avenues for collaborative STI funding through portfolio-based funding mechanisms such as Public-Private-Partnerships and other innovative, hybrid funding mechanisms.
Replying to another question, Singh said the investment in R&D in terms of Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) has been consistently increasing over the years and in the last 10 years, the GERD of India in gross terms has increased three times. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said the number of Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) researchers per millions of population in the country also follows an increasing trend. As per the latest R&D statistics, the number of FTE Researchers per million people has increased to 255 in 2017 from 218 in 2015 and 110 in 2000. The government is aware that the research intensity, in terms of Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) to GDP has been figured around 0.7 per cent since last few years.
“The main reason for GERD to GDP not increasing to desired level is due to the fact that there is an inadequate private sector investment into GERD,” Singh said. Unlike other advanced countries where more than 70 per cent contribution of GERD comes from the private sector, in India, the private sector contribution to GERD is less than 40 per cent. “The government is making concerted efforts to increase private sector investment into GERD through various incentivisation initiatives,” said the minister.