India Innovation Index reports India spends 0.7% of its GDP on Research and Development, whereas Israel spends 4.94% of its GDP. In the Global Innovation Index ranking, India is in the 46th spot in 2021. In the state-wise innovation ranking, Odisha is at 16th position.
by Sampad Mohapatra 
Higher R&D, Higher the GDP
There is a positive relationship between per capita R&D and per capita GDP, whereby countries with high per capita R&D expenditure also tend to have higher per capita GDP. GDP of 23 developing economies (including India) for the time period 1991–2010 using panel data showed that a 1% increase in R&D expenditure increases the economic growth by 0.30%.
R&D investment in India
In the past few years, R&D investment in India has declined from 0.8% of the GDP in 2008–09 to 0.7% in 2017-18. This is lower than the other BRICS nations—Brazil spends about 1.2%, Russia about 1.1%, China just above 2%, South Africa around 0.8%, with the world average being about 1.8%. On the other hand, developed countries like the United States, Sweden, and Switzerland spend about 2.9%, 3.2%, and 3.4%, respectively. Among all nations, Israel spends the most, 4.5%, of its GDP on R&D.
INDIA’S PERFORMANCE IN THE GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX
From the 60th position in 2017, India reached the 46th spot in 2021. India was ranked 1st among the Central and South Asian nations and 2nd among the lower-middle-income countries.
GROSS EXPENDITURE ON R&D
India’s GERD is one of the lowest in the world, with just USD 43 per capita. This shows that India needs to boost this expenditure and at least be on a par with its BRICS or ASEAN counterparts like Russia (285), Brazil (173), and Malaysia (293).
India’s GERD
India’s GERD as a percentage of GDP has been consistent and hovered around 0.7% for about a decade. This is even lower than Brazil (1.16), South Africa (0.83), and others. Only Mexico (0.31) had a lower share of GERD as a percentage of GDP.
State-wise Innovation Ranking: ODISHA
In the India Innovation Index, the score of Odisha is 11.42, Karnataka tops the list with 18.01. The overall index score of India is about 14.56. Odisha is placed at 16th position in the India innovation index.
