India loves a big promise. We are, after all, the land of slogans. “Digital India.” “Startup India.” “Atmanirbhar Bharat.” Every six months, a new initiative launches with fireworks, hashtags, and a photo-op featuring some minister pressing a giant touchscreen. The world, too, is enchanted by the idea: India — the next Silicon Valley. The smartest people. The largest talent pool. The mythical land where everyone is an engineer and innovation is just a chai break away.

But let’s pause the TED Talk and ask if any of this actually true?

By the Numbers: The Innovation Flatline

• India stands at 39th place on the Global Innovation Index 2024, lagging far behind China (11th), highlighting the persistent issue of low investment in Research and Development (R&D).
• India spent only 0.65% of its GDP on R&D in 2022, China spent 2.43%, and Brazil 1.15%.
• We haven’t had a single science Nobel Prize won by someone working in India with Indian resources since C.V. Raman in 1930.
• India’s R&D ecosystem remains largely dependent on government support, with the private sector contributing just 36.4% to total R&D funding in 2020–21.

The Startup Scene: All Hype, No Hardware

Walk into any startup conference in India and you’ll be bombarded by founders pitching “AI-powered logistics platforms” or “disruptive agri-fintech ecosystems” that amount to glorified Excel sheets with emojis. Most Indian startups are glorified delivery apps dressed up as revolution. Actual innovation — hardware, biotech, AI at scale, clean energy breakthroughs — is as rare as a quiet traffic signal in Delhi.

The reason? Venture capitalists here aren’t funding ideas that take time, risk, or research. They’re looking for the next “10-minute grocery delivery app” that can scale fast and exit faster. If your idea doesn’t offer a quick Series A party and a swag hoodie, good luck. The startup ecosystem here is just a casino with kombucha.

Academia: A Paper Mill with No Printer Ink

Fine, so startups aren’t doing it. But surely academia — the temples of intellect — are where real science is happening, right? Not quite.

India ranks 4th globally in number of papers published. But in impact? We’re 9th. Most of our academic research is quantity over quality — paper after paper on marginal improvements, buried in forgotten journals. Actual groundbreaking research is hamstrung by bureaucracy, politics, and a culture of academic hierarchy that treats young researchers like disposable lab furniture.

Want to try something bold in an Indian lab? Get ready to fill out 17 forms, argue with your department head, and then have your grant rejected because you didn’t attach your advisor’s signature in blue ink.

And what does the government do about it? They talk a lot. They announce things. But execution? It often gets lost in red tape, delayed timelines, and forgotten promises.

Brain Drain: India’s Most Successful Export

India’s brain drain is booming — because why stay when the world offers better pay and respect? In 2024, international job listings for Indians rose 11.4%, and applications for overseas roles shot up 59.4% (CNBC). STEM professionals, tired of the 52.8% employment rate and a labor dependency ratio of 1.52 at home, are heading for countries like Canada and Australia. Despite 5–7% GDP growth, India still has 7 million public sector vacancies — but hey, at least the diaspora is a world record at 18 million (CNBC). Remittances are set to climb to $129 billion by 2025, so maybe losing talent isn’t a crisis — it’s a business model.

What Needs to Change? And Why Won’t They Change It?

If the government truly wanted to foster innovation, here’s what they’d do:

• Fully fund and streamline academic R&D with real autonomy.
• Encourage risk and failure in startups, especially in deep tech.
• Remove bureaucratic chokeholds from grant systems and labs.
• Stop treating science as a PR tool and start treating it as a national investment.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: bold innovation doesn’t produce fast headlines. It doesn’t win elections in six months. And it doesn’t fit into a tweet.

We also need a societal shift. Stop glorifying engineering degrees just for jobs abroad. Stop treating “scientist” like a fallback option. Start rewarding original thinking instead of rote regurgitation. Let your kid build a robot instead of memorizing 60 formulas.

So next time you see the Indian flag on your timeline and a viral tweet about “how smart we Indians are,” ask: What have we actually built? What have we truly solved? Pride without introspection is just delusion. Patriotism without accountability is just noise. Stop being performatively patriotic. Start demanding more. Because if we don’t, we’ll keep exporting brilliance, importing mediocrity, and calling it progress.

About the Author

Shreyas Sharma is a PhD candidate at Hokkaido University in Japan, specializing in robotics, AI, engineering, and physics. In addition to his academic pursuits, he has published a science fiction novel and was a regional winner of the Hult Prize in Japan. Shreyas is also active in startup consultation and international community development and cooperation. Outside of work, he enjoys painting, bouldering and learning new languages.

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