Economic Survey 2015: India's Innovation Capacity Lags Most BRICS Nations

BENGALURU: India ranks lower than most BRICS nations in terms of innovation despite logging a double digit growth in the Research and Development sector in the past few years, says the Economic Survey 2014-15.

"According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2014-15, India's capacity for innovation has been lower than that of many countries like the US, UK, South Korea, and even other BRICS countries except Russia," the Survey said.

The report ranked India 48th in terms of innovation with score of 4, compared to China's ranking at 40 and Brazil 44. Russia ranked 66th with a score of 3.8.

This is also exhibited through India's poor score on university-industry collaboration on R&D as compared to some other BRICS nations like China and South Africa, it added.

"In terms of patents granted per million population, India fares badly compared to other BRICS countries," the Survey said.

In company's spending on R&D too, India is far below China, it added.

"Only in terms of availability of scientists and engineers, India scores better or is equal to other BRICS countries," the Survey said.
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