The Ministry of Education provided an update on India's research ecosystem achievements and funding initiatives in response to a Rajya Sabha query. India's Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) has more than doubled from Rs. 60,196.75 crore in 2010-11 to Rs. 1,27,380.96 crore in 2020-21. The government has sanctioned Rs. 99,494.24 crore during the last five years (FY 2020-21 to 2025-26) for premier technical educational institutions including Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for teaching, research and innovation activities.
Research activities in these institutions cover key areas including Healthcare & Medtech, Advanced Computing (Supercomputing, AI, and Quantum Computing), Semiconductor, Advanced Materials, Rareearth & Critical Minerals, Space & Defence, and Blue Economy. India's research ecosystem has achieved significant global recognition with the country improving its Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking from 81st in 2015 to 38th in 2025. India ranked 3rd globally in terms of total Science and Engineering publications in 2022 (up from 7th in 2010) and 6th globally in patent applications in 2022 (improving from 8th in 2013). The country also ranks 3rd globally in terms of the number of Ph.Ds awarded in Science and Engineering.
To strengthen the research ecosystem further, the government launched the Prime Minister's Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme in 2018-19 with a total financial outlay of Rs. 1,650 Crores, which has admitted 3,688 scholars. The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) was established by the ANRF Act 2023 in February 2024 with an outlay of Rs 50,000 crores to provide strategic direction for research, innovation and entrepreneurship. Additionally, the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme was launched on November 3, 2025, as a Rs 1-lakh-crore initiative to strengthen India's research and development landscape. Research fellowship schemes like NET-JRF are implemented by UGC, with additional fellowships for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Persons with Disabilities and Single Girl Child.