The Government has announced the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy-2013 which interalia aspires 'positioning India among the top five global scientific powers'. Accordingly, the STI Policy seeks to: (i) Enhance India's global share of scientific publications from the present 3.5% to 7.0 %; (ii) Establish world class infrastructure for Research and Development (R&D) in some select areas; (iii) Make careers in science, research and innovation attractive enough for talented and bright minds; ((iv) Create an environment for enhanced private sector participation in R&D, technology and innovation; (v) Seed S&T based high risk Innovation; (vi) Participate in international R&D projects that are high cost and high science. A strong and viable Science, Research and innovation System for High Technology-led path for India (SRISHTI) is the goal of the new STI policy.
As per UNESCO's Global Science Report India's global ranking in Science is commensurate with its Full Time Equivalent of R&D personnel engaged in R & D.
A bibliometric study commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology indicates that India's science publication share has increased from 1.8% in 2001 to 3.5% in 2011. China has been investing significant national resources in scientific research during the last decade. South Korea also invests significantly into Research and Development (R&D). The Government has taken note of China's higher performance in R&D relative to India. However, there is no significant gap between India and China in critical technology areas such as space, software, vaccines, and renewable energy.
Union Minister of Science &Technology and Earth Sciences Shri S.Jaipal Reddy gave this information in reply to a written question in the Rajya Sabha today.