India Poised To Become A Science Superpower, Says World's Top Science Journal 'nature'

New Delhi: As first phase of polling in India got underway to elect new members of Parliament in what is, by far, biggest and longest-ever election being conducted in world's largest democracy, country is not only set to become an economic superpower in coming years, but it is also rey – more than ever – to take next steps towards becoming a science powerhouse, according to an editorial published recently in an international journal.

editorial – ‘How India can become a science powerhouse’ – published in nature Magazine on April 18, 2024 sees India as a nation that has an opportunity "to reimagine science funding".

Stressing that a "thriving research system needs much greater autonomy", Science magazine cited researchers lamenting over “basic research” being "neglected by successive governments".

"One thing India’s government can do is to boost science spending by encouraging businesses to contribute more, as is case for or leing economies", editorial suggests as it dives right into a leing question: how to bridge funding gap. 

In light of recent projections estimating that India is set to become third-largest economy by end of dece, ‘nature’ asserts that “re is, indeed, much to build on”.  

“If policymakers and industrialists can get this right, an opportunity to put rocket boosters under country’s impressive scientific achievements is re for taking”, editorial carried in weekly journal states.

Furr in article, journal's editorial team cites government data to highlight how India h, between 2021 and 2022, world’s third-largest pharmaceutical industry by volume and was leing supplier of affordable medicines and generic drugs, as it hail's country's “crucial” contribution in fighting COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. 

Under Modi government's flagship initiative of ‘Vaccine Maitri’, India began sending vaccine aid to countries around world during COVID-19 pandemic, and by end of March, approximately 66 million doses of homegrown Covishield and Covaxin h been dispatched to 95 countries in form of gifts, commercial agreements and under COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX).

Underlining that India became first-country-ever to land near lunar south pole and only fourth country in world to achieve a soft landing on Moon, editorial in 'nature' also noted India's position as a host to “world’s largest constellation of remote-sensing satellites”.

India me history in August 2023 when Vikram lander from its Moon mission [Chandrayaan-3] successfully touched down as planned, reby making ‘Bharat’ first country ever to land in lunar south pole region, and subsequently joining elite club of countries to have achieved a soft landing on Moon.

Notably, feat that garnered immense praise from space agencies and world leers alike, came just three days after a failed attempt by Russia’s Luna-25 mission.

Furrmore, editorial praised India's research output, even as it urged future governments to consider increasing country’s R&D spending. "India is among world’s most prolific countries in terms of research output, after United States and China. Whichever political group is elected, it must consider how to increase country’s R&D spending, as well as what could be achieved with more money", editorial stated.

editorial, while drawing comparisons between India's science spending and that of similar-sized economies, furr underlined how country stands out. “Around 60 percent of India’s research spending can be traced to central and state governments and universities, and around 40 percent to private sector. In comparable nations, re is often much more private-sector funding", Science magazine editorial said.

editorial also acknowledged that India today has many global companies in construction, information technology, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals, as it asserted, “y could be contributing a lot more to nation’s research — both in terms of funding researchers and also infrastructure”.

‘nature’ – part of Springer Nature – is leing international weekly journal of science which was first published in 1869.