Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles Shri Piyush Goyal said that India has come a long way in the Global Innovation Index (GII) from 81st position in 2015 to today’s 40th position in 2022. “At the last our rating was 46. Over the years, we have also maintained the first place in the export of ICT services,” he added.
Shri Goyal was delivering a virtual message on the occasion of the launch of the Global Innovation Index, 2022 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The minister said the GII has established itself as a tool for governments around the world to think about policies and their impacts. “GII has recognized India’s continuous rise over the years due to progressive measures taken by the government and industry working hand in hand,” he added.
He also expressed his gratitude to WIPO on behalf of 1.3 billion Indians and said that today India aspires to make our ranking in the top 25 in the GII index, he said. Shri Goyal said that innovation is a catalyst for economy and society. “While innovation means new, it is also rooted in tradition for us in India. Ancient scientific knowledge including the Vedas and traditional medicine are a testament to India’s innovative spirit,” he added.
The minister said that India in collaboration with WHO has established a first of its kind Global Center for Traditional Medicine to showcase India’s ancient scientific capabilities. Shri Goyal said that as the ‘knowledge economy’ grows in importance, innovation will lay the blueprint for development in India. “We have been working to strengthen R&D across sectors as amplified by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s clarion call to make innovation the mission of our country,” he added.
The minister noted that the agility, enthusiasm and energy of our youth drives the start-up ecosystem. He found that India is the 3rd largest start-up ecosystem today and is home to more than 100 unicorns. “The start up revolution has spread across India. More than half of the start-ups are from remote small towns,” he said. Shri Goyal opined that incubation, hand holding, funding, industry-academia partnership and mentorship have stirred the entrepreneurial spirit across the country.
He said that India embarked on the journey of “Digital India” in 2015 and set a target of a trillion dollar digital economy in the next few years. “The digitization of government initiatives and public services is our constant focus,” he noted. The minister outlined several areas where digital technology is being used, from mapping capital assets using GIS technology to revolutionizing payments through UPI. In fact, 40% of global real-time digital transactions took place in India last year, he pointed out.
“To further boost innovation, we have introduced a National Education Policy that fosters the spirit of inquiry by establishing incubation and technology development centres. With over 9,000 Atal Tinkering Labs, we encourage youth to develop solutions to societal problems,” he added. Shri Goyal also highlighted that India has adopted structural reforms to strengthen its IPR regime, including modernization of the IP office, reduction of legal compliance and ease of IP filing for start-ups, women entrepreneurs, small scale industries and others. “The filing of patents in the country recorded a 46% increase.
