Editorial: Blow to research culture

Tax notice to a few top-ranking institutions reflects the utter callousness of government towards public-funded research

Two recent developments — a notice slapped on the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IITD) for payment of Rs 120 crore GST and a steep increase in the Customs duty on lab chemicals from 10% to 150% — reflect the utter callousness of the government towards public-funded research and higher education. Mercifully, the Customs duty hike on lab chemicals, announced in the Budget, was rolled back following a massive outcry by scientists. The GST notice, sent to IITD and a few other top-ranking research and academic institutions, amounts to, in the words of leading entrepreneur and investor TV Mohandas Pai, “tax terrorism at its worst”. The tax notice on research funding comes a couple of years after the increase in GST rates on technical tools from 5% to 18%. This made the procurement of scientific and technical instruments, equipment, accessories and consumables very costly. While private organisations may gradually absorb the impact of rate changes, there is limited space for public-funded organisations to absorb the impact. If this is going to be the government’s approach towards research activity, then India will forever remain a country with lost opportunities and untapped potential. Already, India ranks very low in terms of funding for research and development (R&D) — below 1% of the GDP. The much-touted umbrella research funding agency, Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), has been in the making for the past five years.

Poor spending on R&D has been the bane of Indian science. The highly bureaucratised and patronage-driven science administration is a major limiting factor. As of 2021, India spent just 0.7% of its GDP on R&D, significantly below the global average of 1.8%. Developed countries such as the United States, Sweden and Switzerland spend about 2.9%, 3.2% and 3.4%, respectively. Israel spends 4.5% of its GDP on R&D, the highest in the world. This underinvestment means fewer grants, outdated equipment and limited resources for researchers. As India aspires for a place on the global high table on scientific innovation, it becomes imperative for the government to acknowledge the elephant in the room and urgently address the issues that hinder the progress of the research ecosystem. The country needs to increase R&D spending to 3% of the GDP to achieve the desired results in the long run. Along with the fund crunch, researchers face red tape in terms of accessing funds, dealing with tax requirements, delays in disbursal of scholarships and fellowships, and meeting mandatory conditions like procuring equipment that fulfils ‘Make in India’ requirements. Last year, the Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology (FAST) surveyed researchers of 10 top-ranking institutions to gauge the level of ‘Ease of Doing Science’ (EoDS) — a phrase coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015. Only 6% of the respondents rated any parameter as ‘very good’ for EoDS. Overall, the funding process is unpredictable and lacks transparency.

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