{"id":287506,"date":"2025-07-09T06:54:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T06:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/academia-government\/?p=287506"},"modified":"2025-10-07T13:11:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T13:11:15","slug":"insights-from-the-g20-scorecard-indias-research-performance-in-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/academia-government\/blog\/insights-from-the-g20-scorecard-indias-research-performance-in-focus\/","title":{"rendered":"Insights from the G20 Scorecard: India\u2019s Research Performance in Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

India is rapidly expanding its research output and policy ambitions, but how close is it to matching Mainland China\u2019s scientific rise? This blog uses the G20 research and innovation scorecard 2025 to <\/em>explore India\u2019s progress in R&D, its policy landscape, and what the data reveal about its future as a global research leader.<\/em><\/p>\n

Every year, the G20 research and innovation scorecard<\/a> from the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate offers a powerful lens through which to view the global state of science and technology.<\/p>\n

Representing nearly 80% of the world\u2019s population and generating 85% of global GDP, G20 members \u2013 including the original BRICS, the G7, the African Union, the European Union, and key regional players like Argentina, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia \u2013 are responsible for the vast majority of global research activity. Together, they account for 93% of global R&D spending, employ almost 90% of the world\u2019s researchers, and produce 92% of all research publications, including the overwhelming majority of work related to the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals.<\/p>\n

Mainland China is arguably now the world\u2019s research powerhouse, publishing 75% more papers indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection than the United States in 2024. However, India\u2019s population overtook that of Mainland China in 2023. While India\u2019s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is currently less than half that of Mainland China\u2019s, it still makes sense to ask how India is capitalizing on its greatest resource: people.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s science and innovation policy: A decades-long vision for growth<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Building on earlier policies published in 1958, 1983 and 2003, India\u2019s Ministry of Science and Technology published the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP)<\/a> in 2013, setting out key objectives for growth in R&D by 2020 and beyond. The report\u2019s opening line makes clear the importance placed on R&D in driving economic change: \u201cScience, Technology and Innovation (STI) have emerged as the major drivers of national development globally.\u201d It laid out the government\u2019s ambitious objectives to further develop India\u2019s place as a world-class venue for science and position it \u201camong the top five global scientific powers by 2020.\u201d It also aimed to lay down longer-term changes through improvements in science education, a commitment to increasing Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) to 2% of GDP, and tackle the gender gap in STEM, encouraging more women into R&D. The ministry\u2019s fifth STIP<\/a>, published in 2020, aims to go further and \u201cachieve technological self-reliance and position India among the top three scientific superpowers\u201d by 2030.<\/p>\n

Although India\u2019s fourth STI policy pre-dates the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), SDG target 9.5<\/a> has a similar objective: \u201cEnhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open research has also been a focus, and in 2014 India\u2019s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Department of Science & Technology (DST) published an Open Access (OA) policy<\/a>. All papers resulting from public funding should be freely available for anyone to read through an institutional repository, widely known as a green open access model.<\/p>\n

Tracking India\u2019s research performance: Output, impact and global collaboration<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The G20 research and innovation scorecard 2025<\/a> from the Institute for Scientific Information provides a comprehensive set of data charting the state of each G20 member\u2019s R&D performance on a variety of indicators. The scorecard allows us to assess how India is progressing toward achieving some of these objectives:<\/p>\n