Science and technology in India
After independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, initiated reforms to promote higher education and science and technology in India.[2] The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)—conceived by a 22-member committee of scholars and entrepreneurs in order to promote technical education—was inaugurated on 18 August 1951 at Kharagpur in West Bengal by the minister of education Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.[3] More IITs were soon opened in Bombay, Madras, Kanpur and Delhi as well in the late 1950s and early 1960s along with the regional RECs (now National Institutes of Technology (NIT). Beginning in the 1960s, close ties with the Soviet Union enabled the Indian Space Research Organisation to rapidly develop the Indian space program and advance nuclear power in India even after the first nuclear test explosion by India on 18 May 1974 at Pokhran.
India accounts for about 10% of all expenditure on research and development in Asia and the number of scientific publications grew by 45% over the five years to 2007. However, according to former Indian science and technology minister Kapil Sibal, India is lagging in science and technology compared to developed countries.[4] India has only 140 researchers per 1,000,000 population, compared to 4,651 in the United States.[4] India invested US$3.7 billion in science and technology in 2002–2003.[5] For comparison, China invested about four times more than India, while the United States invested approximately 75 times more than India on science and technology.[5]
While India has increased its output of scientific papers fourfold between 2000 and 2015 overtaking Russia and France in absolute number of papers per year, that rate has been exceeded by China and Brazil; Indian papers generate fewer cites than average, and relative to its population it has few scientists.[6]
India is ranked 40th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.[7]
Institutions and facilities[edit]
Science academies in India[edit]
The idea of science academies in India has evolved along with the Indian independence movement. The three major science academies Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, India were all founded in the pre-independence era (pre-1947) between 1930 and 1935.
Indian Academy of Sciences
Also referred to colloquially as the "Bangalore Academy", Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS) was founded in 1934 by C. V. Raman, a Nobel laureate in physicis of his time in Bangalore (now Bengaluru), Karnataka (formerly known as the State of Mysore), India.[35]," ⠀⠀
National Academy of Sciences, India
The founder and first president of the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) was Meghnad Saha in 1930 in Allahabad (Prayag), Uttar Pradesh, India.[36]
Indian National Science Academy
Founded in 1935 based on a proposal by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) and National Institute of Science of India (NISI) with Meghnad Saha's blessings,[37] Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is based in New Delhi, India. According to its charter, the historical aim of the INSA was to be similar to the Royal Society, London, a gathering of learned people to exchange ideas and further science.