India Rank Decreasing in Innovation Index : CSIR

India Rank Decreasing in Innovation Index : CSIR 


Mumbai: R.A. Mashelkar, one of the top Indian scientists in the country right now has said that the country is lagging in innovative ideas. His assertion comes merely days after the Indian Science Congress became a laughing stock across the world when absurd claims were made by many during the otherwise very respectable science body in the country. The country has fallen 10 ranks down from being No. 66 in 2013 to No. 76 now, revealed eminent Indian scientist and former CSIR director general Raghunath Anant Mashelkar. Dr Mashelkar disclosed this while delivering a lecture on 'Reinventing India as an Innovation Nation' on Monday at International Management Institute Kolkata. 

Scientific validation of traditional knowledge

He said the public debate over BT brinjal was largely misplaced and skirted a rational approach. On the other hand, Mashelkar said, scientific validation of traditional knowledge like ayurvedic medicines was the key to reinventing innovations – bringing the past into the future.

Mashelkar, who backed creation of a digital library for India traditional knowledge, felt that Global Innovation Index needed to take note of business process innovations as one of the intrinsic elements of the aggregation. “Think about open heart surgery, made 20 times cheaper by Narayana Hrudayalaya through innovation in the processes”, he said. He felt there are many other areas where India excelled in innovating businesses processes, which increased their affordability many fold.

India would not have slipped in the global innovation scale from the 64th place in 2012 to 76th in 2014 had there been cognition of the business process innovation element.

Mashelkar said for corporation investment in R&D and innovation was an opportunity to stay competitive.​