A Comprehensive Study of the Governance of India’s Scientific, Technological, and Innovative Endeavors

A robust governance and administrative framework are required to enable a good science, technology, and innovation (STI) ecosystem. It comprises decision-making and effective means of putting it into practice with regard to STIs. For STI, the structure for dynamic monitoring, assessment, and incentive needs to be reinforced. Studying the development of Indian STI governance from “The Scientific Policy Resolution” (1958) all the way up to the Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP 2020) is an intriguing topic of study. As a potential outcome of this, a number of institutions of higher education, including central and state universities, National Research Laboratories (NRLs), public and private organizations in numerous domains, etc., were established. The time has come for the correlation between STI and science policies in India, such as STIP, IPR policy, and other interdisciplinary causative linkages. The office of the “Principal Scientific Adviser” (PSA), “Ministry of Science and Technology,” encompasses three key departments: the “Department of Science and Technology” (DST), the “Department of Scientific and Industrial Research” (DSIR), and the “Department of Biotechnology” (DBT); “NITI Aayog” and other ministries are included in a detailed examination of the key stakeholders in STI governance in India. STI governance is a set of defined institutional arrangements and associated policy positions that shape the ways in which research, technology, and innovation is governed within the larger socio-economic ecosystem. India’s STI governance mechanism is primarily facilitated through the “Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council” (PM-STIAC), “Empowered Technology Group” (ETG), and the recently announced “National Research Foundation” (NRF). The 2019 budget included a proposal for the “National Research Foundation” (NRF) to facilitate, encourage, and coordinate R&D efforts across industries. A study by the “National Science and Technology Management Information” (NSTMIS), DST, found that between 2008 and 2018, India’s total R&D investment tripled, driven primarily by the government sector. This led to an increase in scientific publications. According to the NSF (National Science Foundation) database, the country is currently ranked third globally for the number of PhDs in science and engineering thanks to an increase in publications. Since 2000, there are now twice as many researchers per million people as before. Additionally, according to the WIPO’s GII 2022 ranking, India is in the 40th position out of 132 countries. Certainly, there has been a significant improvement in this area, moving from 81st (2015) to the 40th position (2022). Despite being the most inventive country in South Asia and the middle-income countries, there is still much more to be done. And stakeholders are working to strengthen our STI governance framework in order to fully tap its enormous potential. It is possible to set up centralized coordination with decentralized functionality and cross-learning among key stakeholders. The need of the hour is for a national-level, cross-ministerial, STI governance mechanism. It is necessary to address recruitment in order to meet the need for human resources. The right working conditions must be offered. Furthermore, special attention should be paid to problems with coercion, mentor-mentee relationships, and work-life balance that are related to academic mental health. The current chapter will examine the present state of India’s STI ecosystem, its evolution, and potential avenues for improvement so that it can contend with the current and future demands of the hour.