TL;DR: India’s R&D expenditure has increased over the years, with private investment overtaking public investment in 2023-24. However, spending remains below 1% of GDP, and India trails China and the USA considerably in both total expenditure and spending per person. 

Context:

From developing medicines and improving crop varieties to designing satellites and cleaner technologies, research and development (R&D) connects scientific knowledge with practical needs. It includes work to generate new knowledge and use existing knowledge to develop or improve products, processes and services. In India, these activities involve government research institutions, universities, public sector enterprises and private companies.

R&D has also featured in recent policy discussions. The government has launched a ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund to encourage private sector participation in research, particularly in areas involving high risk and strategic technologies. Alongside this, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation aims to support research across academic and scientific institutions. These initiatives provide a backdrop for examining India’s R&D landscape: how research is organised, how expenditure is distributed, and how India’s research spending compares with that of other countries.

Who compiles this data?

The Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, compiles and publishes India’s R&D expenditure data through its Research and Development Statistics reports.

Where can I download clean & structured data related to ITRs filed?

Cleaned, structured, and ready-to-use datasets covering various aspects of India’s Research & Development Sector can be downloaded from Dataful. These include data on expenditure, patents, public/private investment and more.

Key Insights

• India’s R&D spending has increased over the years. Expenditure rose from around ₹60,000 crore in 2010-11 to ₹2.45 lakh crore in 2023-24, roughly a fourfold increase.

• However, its share of GDP initially declined despite rising spending. R&D expenditure fell from 0.77% of GDP in 2010-11 to 0.64% in 2020-21, indicating that spending did not keep pace with growth in the economy over this period.

• The share has increased in recent years but remains below 1%. R&D expenditure reached 0.84% of GDP in 2023-24 and is estimated at 0.90% in 2025-26.

• Public investment in R&D includes spending by Union Ministries and Departments, by public sector and joint sector industries, by State Government departments, State agricultural universities, and public higher education institutions.

• Data indicates that Private R&D investment grew faster than public investment. Between 2004-05 and 2025-26, private investment increased from about ₹6,039 crore to an estimated ₹1.82 lakh crore. Public investment also rose, from about ₹18,078 crore to an estimated ₹1.31 lakh crore.

• Private investment now accounts for the larger share. It overtook public investment in 2023-24. Its share of total R&D investment increased from 25% in 2004-05 to an estimated 58.04% in 2025-26, while the public share declined from 75% to 41.96%.

• Private investment drove the recent increase in R&D expenditure relative to GDP. Its GDP share rose from 0.38% in 2021-22 to an estimated 0.52% in 2025-26, while the public component fell from 0.45% to 0.38%. Overall R&D investment increased from 0.83% to an estimated 0.90% of GDP.

• The shift accelerated following the onset of COVID-19. Private investment grew modestly in 2020-21, then nearly doubled in 2021-22. Its share rose from 36.4% in 2020-21 to more than half by 2023-24.

• DRDO accounted for the largest share of R&D expenditure among the major scientific agencies. In 2023-24, it spent ₹22,928 crore, nearly one-third of their combined expenditure. Together, DRDO, the Department of Space and the Department of Atomic Energy accounted for about 62%.

• Expenditure recovered after a decline in the first COVID-19 year, but trends differed across agencies. ICAR and ICMR recorded increases throughout this period, while DBT and DST expenditure declined for two consecutive years after 2021-22.

• In 2023, India’s total R&D expenditure was PPP US$120.6 billion, higher than that of the United Kingdom, France and Canada. However, China and the USA each spent more than seven times this amount.

• Relative to the size of its economy, India spent considerably less on R&D. It devoted 0.84% of its GDP to research, compared with 2.58% in China and 3.45% in the USA.

• The gap was also substantial in spending per person. India’s per capita R&D expenditure was PPP US$84.3, compared with PPP US$648.9 in China and PPP US$2,826.9 in the USA. Although India’s total spending exceeded that of several advanced economies, its spending per person remained much lower.

Why Does It Matter?

India’s R&D expenditure has increased over the years, with private investment now contributing a larger share than public investment. However, spending remains below 1% of GDP, and the gap with countries such as China and the USA remains wide, both relative to the size of the economy and on a per capita basis. As the government seeks to encourage greater private participation through new funding initiatives, increasing overall investment while sustaining public research funding will be important. The extent to which these investments expand research capacity and translate into scientific and technological advances will be key to India’s progress in R&D.

Key numbers

• ₹60,000 crore → ₹2.45 lakh crore | India’s R&D expenditure, 2010-11 to 2023-24.

• 0.84% → 0.90% | R&D expenditure as a share of GDP, 2023-24 to 2025-26.

• 25% → 58% | Private share of R&D investment, 2004-05 to 2025-26.

• ₹22,928 crore | DRDO’s R&D expenditure in 2023-24, the highest among the select scientific agencies.

• PPP US$84.3 | India’s per capita R&D expenditure in 2023, compared with US$648.9 in China and US$2,826.9 in the USA.