India’s jump in the Global Innovation Index (GII) rankings is mainly on the account of its growth in ICT (information and communications technology) services exports, market sophistication and labour productivity growth, according to World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
The country moved up six spots to be the 40th spot in this year’s edition of the index run by WIPO, which is one of the 15 specialised agencies of the United Nations.
“India overtakes Vietnam as the leader of the lower middle-income group. It continues to lead the world in the ICT services exports indicator and hold top rankings in other indicators, including venture capital recipients’ value, finance for startups and scaleups, graduates in science and engineering, labor productivity growth and domestic industry diversification,” said WIPO in its report.
Among the seven GII pillar ranks, India scored best in market sophistication (19), while it ranked its lowest in infrastructure (78).
Responding to the improvement in India’s ranking through a virtual address during the launch of the report, Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal said that as the importance of the ‘knowledge economy’ grows, innovation will lay the roadmap for development in India.
“We have been working to strengthen research and development across sectors as amplified by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s clarion call to make innovation our nation’s mission,” he added.
Among indicators that form the basis for the seven pillar ranks, India topped the chart for ICT services exports and domestic market scale. The country also ranked high in venture capital received (6), finance for startups and scaleups (8), graduates in science and engineering (11), entrepreneurship policies and culture (12), and cultural creative services exports (12).
However, India did poorly in environmental performance (130), new businesses (114), number of students from abroad studying in the country (109) and females employed with advanced degrees (103).
Rise in IP filings
There has been a steady rise in intellectual property (IP) filings in India as the number of patents applications went up from 15,914 in 2011 to 37,880 in 2020. For trademarks, the figure rose from 194,796 to 418,560 during the same period.
“Domestic filing of patents registered a 46 percent growth in the last five years. We are now transitioning to a knowledge-based economy,” said Goyal.
However, there has been a drop in industrial design applications after reaching its highest figure in 2018.
Data shows that foreign applicants lead when it comes to patent filings in India. In 2020, non-residents filed as many as 33,630 patent applications and were granted 21,373 patents. Meanwhile resident Indians made 23,141 patent applications and were granted 4,988 patents.
Moreover, as many as 14,739 Indians filed for patents in other countries, and were granted 8,081 patents.
Top Indian performers
Citing data from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the report recognised Tata Motors as biggest corporate R&D investor from India. The automobile company made investments in research and development worth 1,965 million euros in 2020 and ranked 79 globally for the same. Tata Motors is the lone Indian company to enter the top 100 list.
In its report, WIPO also cited global university rankings by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a UK-based company specialising in the analysis of higher education institutions around the world. None of the Indian universities featured in the top 100 chart, as IIT Bombay, the highest ranking Indian university, came in 177th in the list.
IIT Delhi, the second highest ranked from India, and IIT Bangalore, the third highest, came in 185th and 186th, respectively.
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