New Delhi, Oct 6 (IANS) There has been an 80 percent increase in India’s scientific research output since 2000, a news study revealed Tuesday, forecasting that the country will overtake all other countries between 2015 to 2020.
The study carried out by British firm Thomson Reuters that owns the news agency Reuters was released in Delhi Tuesday.
The study said India’s research productivity will be on par with most G8 nations within seven-eight years and overtake them between 2015-2020.
The study, ‘Global Research Report: India’, aims to inform policymakers about the research and collaboration potential of India and its current place in world science.
“India’s current rise in science is as impressive as its economic surge of recent years and clearly has immense potential to become the home for world-class research,” said Mike Boswood, CEO, Healthcare and Science Business of Thomson Reuters.
“As India builds on its scientific enterprise, further diversifies its research base and expands its collaborative networks, the nation is certain to claim its place at the forefront of world science,” he added.
Among the key indicators, the study said: “In the last decade, India has seen a substantial growth in its annual output of scientific publications-from roughly 16,500 in 1998 to nearly 30,000 in 2007, an increase of some 80 percent.”
India’s annual growth rate has vaulted in recent years to rival comparable figures from such well-established European and Asian nations as Japan, France, Germany, and Britain. The country’s research portfolio is balanced between the life sciences and physical sciences, the study said.
India has established stable and growing research partnerships with a variety of nations like the US, Germany, Britain and Japan. South Korea is collaborating with India to produce a large number of scientific research papers.
“By examining India’s scientific focus…this report will provide policymakers and institutions who are interested in engaging with India’s growing research base with useful information and insights,” Boswood explained.
The study said that India is gradually shedding its tag of a “sleeping giant” to a regional research base.