According to a recent article published by scholars at Banaras Hindu University, more than 70% of the research conducted in India from 2016 to 2020 was supported by centrally financed institutes. Educational institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), as well as other research departments like the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Defense Research and Development Organization, are examples of centrally funded organisations (DRDO).

The study, which looked at the number of research publications between 2001 to 2006 and 2016 and 2020, pointed out that there is a notable increase in the contribution of centrally funded institutions in the overall share of research done in India over the past two decades.

However, some academics pointed out that this increase in the central share of research points to the need to strengthen research cultures in state universities. According to the research paper, the research share of centrally funded institutions from the period between 2001 to 2006 was only 62.46 percent compared to 72.70 percent in 2016 to 2020. The IITs, with 15.86%, had the highest share of research publications, followed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), with 10.32 percent, and central universities with 10.12 percent. Moreover, IITs and NITs (4.78%) together contributed to more than 20 percent of the research done in India.

The study also noted that although all institutions recorded improved growth in research, the proportional share of institutions such as the CSIR and DRDO decreased slightly compared to the IITs and NITs. The study noted that this could be because of the boom in the number of IITs and NITs.

“There could be two probable explanations for this. First, since more institutions have been added to some of the systems, like IIT and NIT, in the study period, their total research output has increased much faster. Second, most institution systems have also recorded a genuine growth in research productivity in this period,” the paper published in Current Science says.

The study, while praising the research improvement in central institutions, also raised concerns about the state of research in state-funded universities and institutions. It noted that state institutions and private institutions together amount to only one-third of the research output in India.

“The number of institutions under state governments and the private sector will be many times more than the total number of centrally funded institutions. Yet their research output is less. Thus, the results indicate that centrally funded institutions have an important role in India’s R&D activities, and that state governments should strive to promote more such activities in their institutions,” the study said.