Central Institutions Contribute More Than 70% of Research in India, IITs on Top: BHU Study

Centrally-funded institutions are responsible for more than 70 per cent of research in 2001-2020, reveals a paper released by the Banaras Hindu University researchers.

Centrally funded institutions include educational institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) as well as other research departments such as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The study shows 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. Some academics, however, pointed out that this increase in the central share of research points to the need to strengthen research cultures in state universities.

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The IITs, with 15.86 per cent, 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 per cent) together contributed to more than 20 percent of the research done in India.

V Ramagopal Rao, former director of IIT Delhi, said: “As expected, IITs come on top. However, there is a dire need to strengthen the research culture in state universities with major initiatives.”

The research paper is authored by Anurag Kanaujia, Prashasti Singh, Abhirup Nandy and Vivek Kumar Singh of the department of computer science at BHU.

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.

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.

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