NITI Aayog arm sets up expert group to draft India’s 2035 R&D ambition, inspired by China’s playbook

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In a move to elevate India’s research and development (R&D) capabilities, NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub (FTH) has set up a high-powered expert group to draft a visionary 10-year roadmap for R&D.

The decision follows a discussion paper by India’s apex public policy think tank, which highlighted India’s lagging R&D investment, at 0.7 percent of GDP, compared to China’s 2.68 percent and fragmented innovation ecosystem.

The report also comes days after Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal compared Indian startups to their Chinese counterparts and called out the lack of innovation among domestic firms.

The discussion paper, titled Beyond Planning: India’s Urgent Need for a 10-Year R&D Vision, highlighted China’s dominance in EVs, solar tech, and 5G, achieved through targeted funding, academia-industry integration, and accountability mechanisms.

“The absolute difference is even more striking: China's annual R&D expenditure of approximately $496 billion dwarfs India's investment, which is estimated to be less than $100 billion. This massive disparity in funding translates directly to research capacity, infrastructure development, and the ability to attract top talent,” the discussion paper said.

Meanwhile, the initiative, inspired by China’s Made in China 2025 strategy, aims to bridge India’s innovation gap and position the country as a leader in critical sectors like semiconductors, renewable energy, and quantum computing.

“There is an urgent need to reimagine India’s R&D ambition and impact. To drive this transformation, we must start with a bold vision of where we want to be. Recognizing that successful change starts with strategic foresight, NITI FTH is establishing a core group of experts to craft the vision for R&D in India in 2035,” the paper read, co-authored by Debjani Ghosh, distinguished fellow – NITI Aayog and Sharad Sharma, founder of India’s software think-tank ISPIRT.

The research paper further mentions that China’s success in sectors like electric vehicles, where BYD surpassed Tesla in global sales, and solar energy, where it controls 95 percent of panel production, shows the importance of sustained investment and policy continuity.

The document also pointed to China’s ability to innovate under constraints, such as producing 7 nm semiconductors despite US sanctions.

“This initiative will also lay out a concrete roadmap for achieving global leadership in key technologies. Crucially, this effort must prioritize effective implementation, strong accountability, and sustained policy continuity to ensure real impact and secure our future,” Ghosh was quoted as saying in the release.

Infrastructure, Ecosystem Development

China has developed a structured and integrated R&D ecosystem by systematically establishing 40 dedicated such centres and national laboratories focused on strategic industries. These facilities serve as concentrated innovation hubs that actively facilitate collaboration between academic institutions, state-owned enterprises, and private sector firms.

In comparison, India possesses strong academic and research institutions such as the IITs and CSIR laboratories, but these operate in silos and weaker connections to industry.

“China's patent portfolio has grown to 4.76 million valid domestic invention patents by the end of 2024, a 16.3% increase from the previous year. India's patent filings, while growing, remain at a fraction of China's output,” the report read.