India Ranked 52nd In Global Innovation Index 2019

In News

India is ranked 52nd among 129 countries in the Global Innovation Index 2019.

In-Detail

The 2019 Global Innovation Index (GII) report was brought out by the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation, INSEAD and CII.
India moved up from 57 in 2018 to 52 this year.
The country has been steadily increasing its rank over the years. From 81 in 2015, it now stands at 52.
GII gives rank by measuring 80 indicators that are related to innovation such as political environment, business sophistication, education, infrastructure etc.
GII helps policymakers to understand, stimulate and measure innovation activity.
The 2019 report is the first time when a GII report is launched in Asia.

Highlights

As per the report, India remains the most innovative economy in central and southern Asia.
The country is among the top in innovation drivers such as ICT services, quality of universities, gross capital formation, graduates in science and engineering – all these are measures of investments across the economy – and creative goods exports.
The country also stands out in the world’s technology clusters with cities like Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai featuring in the top 100 technology clusters in the world.
Other areas where India exhibited key strengths are – global R&D companies’ expenditure, market sophistication.
The country lagged in education, ecological sustainability, females employed with advanced degrees, ICT access and use and environmental performance.

Government View

Piyush Goyal, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, stated that the government was expecting a rank below 50 but it is satisfied with the overall progress.
The ultimate aim of the government is to make India an innovation hub with rank in top-10.
The improvement in rankings can be attributed to some of the measures taken by the government such as pushing for innovation culture in the country, cutting down the time required to issue a patent, etc.

Conclusion

Technological innovation is the driving factor behind the industrial revolution. Major economies of the world rely on it to further expand their economies. The boost in the ranking will thus augur well for India. It will bring in more investments and boost the economy.

Also in another report – Bloomberg New Economy Global Survey – it was mentioned that by 2035 India and China will surpass the US as the world’s centre for technological innovations. All these will help the country to develop and become a force to reckon with.