Inadequate Investment Impacting India's Innovation Returns - A Perspective

Continuous innovation is critical for the sustainability and development of any society. Innovations should be focused not only at solving the existing needs of the society, but should be geared to the future. Innovation creates new industries, which creates new jobs and new markets while expanding existing ones — all of which contributes to the development of the society. The Indian economy is at a crossroads today, with a burgeoning middle class whose affluence and access to information has increased its appetite for innovative products and processes while still there is a huge population base that does not have access to even the minimum technological advances of the 21st century. India lacks in creating genuinely innovative products and processes/technologies that are new to the world. One of the primary reasons for this is the lack of technological competence in most Indian firms. However, it is wrong to say that there is a lack of innovation in India. The article identifies certain types of innovations in which India has become a leader, and the importance of such innovations in the Indian socio-economic context. It also identifies the limitations of such innovations and why such innovations, though important, may not be sufficient to either bridge the technology gap or generate enough value that can transform the technology landscape in India. It also identifies the limitations of wholesale importation of technologies in order to bridge the gap. To conclude, the authors provide some directions so that India can improve its technological competence as a first step towards developing innovative products and technologies.