India Urged to Invest Boldly in Deep-Tech for Innovative Edge

India's Chief Science Adviser has called for bold investments in deep-tech research to boost the nation's competitive edge. Speaking at the Bharat R&D Summit, Ajay K Sood emphasized the need for the industry to enhance its contribution to R&D, which currently lags at 40% of the nation's total expenditure.

The summit, organized by FICCI, gathered industry leaders, policymakers, and scientists to discuss India's research priorities. Sood stressed moving beyond mere incremental advancements, urging focus on semiconductors, biotechnology, AI, and clean energy through initiatives such as the National Research Foundation and a substantial deep-tech corpus.

With an eye on sustainable growth and global leadership by 2047, M Ravichandran highlighted the immense potential in India's oceans and the necessity of breaking silos across government, academia, and industry. Meanwhile, Ajay Chowdhry advocated for shifting from a service-based economy to product innovation for technological sovereignty, spotlighting the National Quantum Mission's efforts in bolstering startups and forthcoming R&D Innovation Fund.