The 2025 Global Innovation Index describes India as an 'overperformer', delivering more innovation output relative to its input levels than many of its peers. Yet, beneath this encouraging headline lies a more complex reality: systems that enable research have not kept pace with the aspirations they are meant to serve.
Focus must now shift to making the R&D ecosystem more responsive, efficient and agile. Nearly a decade ago, Narendra Modi underscored improving 'ease of doing science', calling for a system where researchers spend more time in labs than navigating paperwork. Challenges include both internal factors localised within academic and research institutions, and external factors outside institutional systems that involve broader aspects related to funding, policies, rules and regulations.
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Addressing these in isolation won't suffice. What's needed is a coordinated shift in how the ecosystem functions. R&D projects move more slowly because admin systems fail to match scientific timelines. Delays in grant disbursal, complex procurement procedures, restrictive utilisation norms and repetitive compliance requirements continue to affect R&D efficiency. At the same time, India's R&D ecosystem remains dependent on public funding, with relatively limited participation from industry and philanthropy.
Faster grant approvals, simplified procurement mechanisms, greater institutional autonomy in fund utilisation, and stronger incentives for private-sector R&D can greatly improve research productivity. Encouraging philanthropic and CSR participation can further diversify funding sources.
Expanding post-doctoral support, ensuring timely fellowships through unified portal, and providing greater institutional flexibility in recruitment can help strengthen India's scientific workforce and overall environment. In many institutions, researchers continue to spend considerable time managing approvals, procurement, compliance and documentation. Admin processes often compete directly with scientific work, reducing both efficiency and research output.
Globally competitive research ecosystems increasingly rely on specialised professional support systems for grant management, procurement, partnerships and project coordination. Indian institutions would benefit from similar models. Dedicated R&D support offices, simplified approvals, decentralised decision-making and a culture of trust can allow researchers to focus more on scientific work rather than operational processes.
Translation of research into usable products and technologies remains limited. Weak academia-industry linkages and inadequate testing and prototyping infrastructure often prevent innovations from moving beyond labs. Stronger industry collaboration, mobility frameworks, tech transfer systems, and sectoral research development and innovation clusters can help accelerate real-world adoption of research outcomes.
Access to quality research resources continues to vary significantly across institutions. While initiatives such as One Nation One Subscription (Onos) have improved journal accessibility, access to advanced databases, specialised software and high-end scientific infrastructure remains limited.
Shared infra models, integrated research repositories and wider digital access systems can help reduce disparities across institutions. Expanding access to include private institutions can help building a more inclusive national innovation ecosystem.
Many state universities and regional institutions continue to face constraints related to infra, faculty capacity and funding. In several cases, state institutions remain weakly connected to larger national research networks.
Improving collaboration between central and state institutions, strengthening state S&T councils and expanding shared research infra can help create more balanced regional innovation ecosystems. Greater support for locally relevant and grassroots innovation can also improve inclusiveness.
An effective R&D ecosystem requires strong monitoring, timely data and better policy coordination. Evaluation systems remain fragmented, data gaps and delays persist, and institutional capacities in science governance and research administration remain limited. Strengthening data analytics infrastructure, evidence-based policymaking and institutional capacities can improve long-term effectiveness of the R&D ecosystem.
Improving 'ease of doing R&D' is not a peripheral reform but central to enhancing research productivity, attracting and retaining talent, and ensuring scientific advances translate into tangible societal and economic outcomes. This will require sustained commitment, coordinated action and a willingness at the institutional level to rethink established processes.
Saraswat is former chairman, DRDO, and Singh is senior adviser, NITI Aayog.
