Magazine : 
India Climbs Four Steps in Global Innovation Index, Enters the Top 50 List
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Cornell University, and INSEAD Business School together had compiled and released global innovation trends and annual innovation ranking of 131 economies. The Global Innovation Index 2020 has witnessed India leaped four places and landed at the 48th position.
Despite the strict lockdown, the country has made up to reach the list of top 50 innovative countries. While Switzerland, Sweden, the U.S, UK, and Netherland have topped the ranking. According to the organizations, India, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines have been the economies yet making notable progress in their GII ranking so far.
Soumitra Dutta, Former Dean & Professor of Management at Cornell University states “As shown by China, India, and Vietnam, the persistent pursuit of innovation pays off over time." He further adds, “The GII has been used by governments of those countries and others around the world to improve their innovation performance.”
Inscribing Steady Growth
India has progressed gradually over the past five years. From being at 81st place in 2015, it bounced 15 places in 2016 and reached 66th place. The very next year it leaped six places and settled at 60. 2018 saw three moves and 2019 witnessed five moves and landed at 52. Though raising just four places is low as compared to the country's previous records. It is commendable that India attained the 48th position, despite the Covid-19 pandemic that has hindered the innovative activities of the countries worldwide.
GII 2020 has also pointed out that the capital to fund the innovative ventures are drying up, and this has drastically affected the regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia. But, the financial shortage would vary for different countries. Yet, the negative effects could be strongly felt at the early-stage venture capitalists, R&D focused startups and the countries that are not VC hotspots.
Bruno Lanvin, Executive Director for Global Indices, INSEAD says “There are now genuine risks to international openness and collaboration on innovation. Faced with unprecedented challenges, whether sanitary, environmental, economic, or social, the world needs to combine efforts and resources to ensure the continuous financing of innovation.”
India Turning into a Startup Hub
According to Nasscom, India is the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world. The country gives rise to over 1000+ startups with each passing year. Over a period, the startups are focussing more on the B2B space and almost 50 percent of the country's startups are contributing to the enterprise-focused services.
Also, according to reports, nearly 18 percent of Indian startups are relying on deep-tech. This points out that more than 1,600 such companies in India and this number marks eight percent of startups commenced in 2014, which has obtained 40 percent CAGR.
Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom states, " The Indian start-up ecosystem has come a long way in providing a level playing field for innovators to flourish by strengthening capabilities and fostering co-creation." She adds, "The next wave of growth will be at the junction of convergence of technologies, where different sectors will embrace digital to re-define their operations."
Thus, Nasscom intends to give a boost to the startup ecosystem in India significantly by 2025. Consequently, expecting the country to elevate the number of unicorns to reach above 105 and the raise the cumulative valuation to $350-390 billion.
Having said that, the Covid-19 crisis has still been a blessing in disguise, as it has triggered innovation in various sectors that include health, education, retail, and tourism. This has certainly contributed to the country to keep its pace at competing with other countries in the innovation trends.
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