India has jumped to the third position in the global ranking in scientific publications, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday after a review of the functioning of the ministry.
Singh said that according to the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Science & Engineering Indicators 2022 report of the United States, India's position globally in scientific publications, has improved from seventh position in 2010 to third position in 2020. He also added that India's scholarly output increased from 60,555 papers in 2010 to 1,49,213 papers in 2020.
Higher allocations to DST in Union Budget
A senior official said that the Department of Science and Technology (DST) was likely to get 20 per cent more allocation in the upcoming Union Budget 2023-24 in comparison to last year.
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In the last budget, the DST received Rs 6,002 Crore, which was 42 per cent of the total fund of Rs 14,217 Crore allocated to the Ministry of Science and Technology. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research received Rs 5,636 crore (40%), while the Department of Biotechnology got Rs 2,581 crore (18%).
Uptick in PhDs and Patents
Singh said India now ranks third in terms of number of PhDs in science and engineering.
He said the number of patents granted to Indian scientists at India Patent Office (IPO) during the last three years has also increased from 2,511 in 2018-19 to 4,003 in 2019-20 and 5,629 in 2020-21.
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It may be recalled that according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2022 brought out by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), India's GII ranking has also improved significantly from 81st in 2014 to 40th position in 2022.
Lauding India's scientific fraternity for its consistent efforts, Singh gave all credit to an enabling milieu and freedom of working provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The National Science Foundation is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.
While these trends are encouraging for India's science and technology field, analysts have pointed out that despite the high number of publications from India, globally, citations from Indian authors remain low. Furthermore, due to the cumbersome process of patent approvals in India, which is often mired in delays, many Indian firms have moved to have their innovations patented elsewhere. This remains a cause for concern.
(With inputs from PTI)
