Scaling India's Technology Ecosystem

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India is launching major national missions in Artificial Intelligence, Semiconductors, Quantum Computing, and Space Technologies.
A major debate focuses on why India struggles to cross the Valley of Death between local prototypes and global commercial success.
India has a proud history of scientific invention, but it now needs to turn local success into global market leadership.

India shows strong capability in Artificial Intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, space technology, and Digital Public Infrastructure.
To reach global scale, India must fix low research spending, weak links between industry and colleges, and a shortage of deep-tech funding.
Crossing the Valley of Death requires long-term capital, shared research centres, smart public buying, and strong global partnerships to achieve Viksit Bharat 2047.

India's Gross Expenditure on R&D stays stuck at about 0.64% of GDP, which is far below the global average of ~1.7% and advanced nations spending over 2.5%.
In top innovative countries, private businesses fund over 70% of R&D.
Government policies and the Anusandhan National Research Foundation try to attract private funds, but the public sector still carries most of the R&D burden.
Scientific ideas stay locked inside government research labs instead of turning into successful commercial products.
India's industrial setup has giant companies and tiny informal firms, but misses mid-sized deep-tech businesses needed for complex supply chains.
Research excellence remains trapped in academic centers like CSIR and DRDO labs instead of reaching large industrial markets.
While software startups get plenty of venture capital, risk capital for hardware and deep-tech remains very hard to find.
India excels in service delivery and process engineering, but struggles to create and own critical standard-essential patents in new technologies.

India often suffers from the Stopping Too Soon habit, where policy measures success by early local capability rather than global commercial scale.
The Semiconductor Complex Limited started in the 1970s to build integrated circuits.
It failed to match Taiwan's TSMC because of low funding, small manufacturing size, and inconsistent public support.
The Electronics Corporation of India Limited was set up in 1967 to build computers and control systems during technology embargoes.
Its focus stayed limited to government strategic needs rather than competitive commercial products.
The Simputer of 1998 previewed modern smartphone features.
It failed to grow because the supporting venture capital and component supply chains did not exist back then.
Apple used similar ideas later by building a strong business ecosystem to achieve worldwide dominance.

By focusing on process innovation and exports, India grew into the Pharmacy of the World and a top vaccine maker.
Platforms like Aadhaar and Unified Payments Interface were built for massive population scale from day one, proving that large user bases drive global leadership.
The PARAM program showed that steady public funding with clear commercial targets can build world-class computing capabilities.
The Indian Space Research Organisation shifted from a local developmental agency into a global commercial launch provider through frugal engineering.
It deployed hundreds of foreign satellites using PSLV and LVM3 rockets and completed missions like the Mars Orbiter Mission at very low costs.

India has strong AI talent and multilingual datasets, which help in building Sovereign AI models for health, education, and farming.
The National Quantum Mission and strong physics expertise help India build quantum tools for drug discovery and cybersecurity.
India holds around 20% of the global VLSI design workforce and runs the India Semiconductor Mission to expand chip design and local fabrication.
Frugal innovation seen in Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan helps India lead in satellite manufacturing and orbital computing.
Platforms like Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, ONDC, and CoWIN allow India to export its digital public goods to developing nations.
Global leadership in pharmaceuticals opens doors into genomics, synthetic biology, and precision medicine.
Strong engineering and Production Linked Incentive schemes help promote robotics and smart manufacturing.
Leadership in renewable energy helps India become a hub for green hydrogen and battery storage.
A growing digital economy allows India to build indigenous cybersecurity products and secure cloud systems for global markets.

India improved from 81st in 2015 to 38th in 2025 in the Global Innovation Index 2025, showing its rise as an innovation hub.
To bridge the gap between research and commercial products highlighted in the Economic Survey 2025-26, India must expand the Research, Development and Innovation Scheme by building Translational Research Centres.
Passing a law similar to the US Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 will help universities own and monetize federally funded inventions.
The Anusandhan National Research Foundation should provide long-term risk capital through industry partnerships, similar to Israel's Yozma program.
The government should act as an anchor customer by setting aside a 5 to 10% public procurement quota for deep-tech startups in railways and smart cities.
Financial support for groups like the International Telecommunication Union, 3rd Generation Partnership Project, and International Organization for Standardization will help Indian firms secure standard essential patents.
Programs like VAJRA and the Ramanujan Fellowship should bring diaspora scientists back as mentors and investors, much like Taiwan did with Hsinchu Science Park.
Regulatory sandboxes should be set up for drones, AI, and crypto so innovators can test products safely.
Diplomatic platforms like the US-India iCET and the Quad will help secure advanced technology transfers.
Expanding KABIL will help India secure critical mineral supplies from Africa, Australia, and South America for manufacturing batteries and chips.

The leading nations of the 21st century will be those that scale innovations best rather than just invent them first.
As India moves toward Viksit Bharat 2047, it must shift from basic self-reliance to bold global ambition.