Industry Prioritizes Importing Technology over indigeous

Joel Mokyr, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, argues that societies prosper when they nurture, develop, and disseminate useful knowledge.

Can India learn something from Mokyr’s blueprint for economic progress?

According to Mokyr, Europe’s transformation in the 18th century was centered around three interconnected institutions: the creation of propositional knowledge (science and theory), its conversion into technology and engineering, and a network that enabled the free flow of ideas between the two.

Modern China has developed its own version of this model at an extraordinary pace. Its spending on research and development exceeds 2.5% of its GDP, it files more patents than any other country, and its universities produce thousands of engineers and scientists every year.

India’s scientific elite is world-class, but the link between laboratories and factories remains weak. The country spends only about 0.7% of its GDP on research and development—roughly one-third of China’s level—and most of this comes from the public sector.

Indian universities are strong in teaching but weak in research, while industry often prefers importing technology rather than adopting or developing it domestically. The result is an economy rich in human resources but lacking in technological capability.

By 2025, India produced as many graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as China, but most of them moved into software services. At the postgraduate and doctoral levels—where fundamental research takes place—the numbers remain relatively low in India.

Encouraging private-sector investment in research and development is equally important. Currently, large Indian companies spend only about 0.2–0.3% of their sales on research, which is extremely low by global standards. Tax incentives, targeted government procurement, and public-private partnerships could help improve this.

Organizations like DRDO and ISRO have demonstrated how government missions can create ecosystems of suppliers and engineers. The real challenge is replicating this model in civilian sectors (Indian industries).

India has talent, entrepreneurial energy, and a large domestic market capable of sustaining rapid growth. What is missing is a system that is itself built on knowledge and allows it to continuously evolve.

It will not be possible without developing a culture that values and celebrates useful knowledge and researcher.

Suresh Bahety | 9050800888

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