State Innovation Report is a flagship report of the the initiative “Future of States” and will help the states in envisioning their future. The research is done on the basis of economic and social indicators at a national and subnational level to take stock of the present state of Indian Innovation.
Innovation is a subject matter of huge concern for a country the size of India. It is because innovations are important from several viewpoints. These include first and foremost the viewpoint of economic growth. Apart from this, innovations also help companies overcome problems to benefit consumers. Technological innovation is the basis of growth and competitiveness of nations. Several countries have invested in R&D efforts and have benefitted from growth and development of industries around these inventions that became innovations in the long-term time frame.
The present study is aimed at looking at innovation in India from four distinct perspectives. These include the perspectives of the national system of innovation where theoretical approaches to national innovation systems are discussed. This is followed by a description of the national system of innovation in the Indian context and its relationship to the global innovation system. Apart from this a comparison of various parameters of the national system of innovation in India is done with parameters internationally.
The second component of the report is the measurement of the state innovation in the Indian context. Here conceptual approaches are discussed including approaches from economics and management. Some approaches, which are unique to the developing country contexts in general and Indian context in particular like frugal and grassroots innovations, are also discussed. Apart from this composite measures of innovation like the Bloomberg Innovation Index and the EIU’s Innovation Index as well as the Global Innovation Index are discussed. Developed and derived post this conceptual approach is the State Innovation Index at the state level in India. The index is a unique tool to look at the innovation environment at the state level in India. Post this results along the different dimensions of the index and a comparison of the index is presented. This it is hoped will help policymakers and corporates address some of the issues at a subnational level in India.
The third component of the report is the aspect where sectors are looked at from the viewpoint of evolution and sectoral innovation. Six sectors are considered for the study. The evolution of these sectors and the likely performance and innovation system is discussed for the Food Processing, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Automobiles, Defense and Electronics sectors respectively. In some of these sectors innovation performance and role of the private sector has enabled research and development as well as innovation. While in some others where the government alone seems to be functioning these are seen lagging behind.
Finally the fourth component of the report focuses on innovation policy in a developing country context. It starts with taking a theoretical view of what an innovation policy should look like and then discusses the innovation policy in Indian context. Also discussed are some of the actors and systems and the policy lacunae in the Indian context.
The report ends with a brief recommendations section that enumerates recommendations at the national, state and sectoral level for India to ponder over. Several key learnings have emerged during the course of the report and it is hoped sharing these will benefit the policymakers as well as people who are enthusiastic about innovation in the Indian context.
