Wednesday, 14 Jan, 2026
Photo courtesy: Pixabay
India has over 1,000 universities and nearly 42,000 colleges, yet scale has not translated into research. For more than a decade, higher education has accounted for less than 10% of the country’s R&D spending
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a Rs 1 lakh crore fund to catalyse private sector research and development has once again brought India’s innovation ambitions into sharp focus. With nearly two-thirds of the population under the age of 35, the country enjoys a demographic advantage that many advanced economies can only envy. The question, however, is whether India’s institutions are equipped to convert youthful potential into sustained scientific and technological leadership.
On paper, progress appears undeniable. India’s expenditure on research and development (R&D) has more than doubled in a decade, rising from about Rs 60,000 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 1.27 lakh crore in 2020-21. Yet this headline growth masks a deeper structural weakness: the limited role played by universities and colleges in the national research ecosystem.
India today boasts over 1,000 universities and nearly 42,000 colleges—one of the largest higher education systems in the world. But scale has not translated into research intensity. For more than a decade, higher education institutions have failed to account for even a tenth of India’s gross expenditure on R&D. In 2020-21, their contribution stood at 8.8 per cent, up modestly from 5.49 per cent in 2010-11, but still strikingly low for an aspiring knowledge economy.
Instead, R&D spending continues to be dominated by the government and business enterprises, including public sector units. While the government’s share has gradually declined—from over 62 per cent in 2010-11 to just above 50 per cent in 2020-21—it remains the single largest driver of research spending. Business enterprises account for about 41 per cent, leaving universities firmly on the margins.
A closer look at state-level data reveals sharp divergences. Meghalaya leads the country, with education accounting for more than half of its total R&D spending in 2023-24. Kerala and Odisha also allocate a substantial share—around 45 per cent— to higher education research. Tamil Nadu’s trajectory is particularly notable: its share surged from just over 2 per cent in 2020-21 to nearly 22 per cent in 2023-24, signalling a strategic shift. Punjab, by contrast, has moved in the opposite direction, with its share falling to about 15 per cent after crossing 20 per cent the previous year.
Globally, India’s position is far less flattering. In leading innovation economies such as Germany and Japan, universities play a far more central role in research. Germany’s higher education institutions accounted for about 19 per cent of total R&D spending in 2020-21—more than double India’s share and the highest among the world’s top five economies. Even the US, where private industry dominates innovation, records a higher university contribution at around 11 per cent. India remains only marginally ahead of China, whose share stands near 8 per cent.
The problem is compounded by India’s persistently low R&D spending relative to GDP, which lags not only advanced economies but also the global average. This underinvestment has consequences: limited laboratory infrastructure, weak incentives for faculty research, fragmented funding mechanisms and a persistent gap between academic inquiry and industrial application.
This is where the new Rs 1 lakh crore fund could prove pivotal—or merely symbolic. Without structural reforms in higher education, additional money risks flowing around universities rather than through them. For India to build globally competitive institutions, research must move from the periphery to the core of academic life. That means stable funding streams, merit-based grants, reduced bureaucratic controls and clearer pathways for collaboration with industry.
