India's scientific and technological landscape pacing toward global leadership

New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) India’s scientific and technological landscape is rapidly pacing toward global leadership, according to a report.

From being just a global peripheral player in technology, India is now way ahead in advancements like quantum computing, agri-tech, space research, and clean energy, noted the report in India Narrative.

The country is building “a future where innovation is both the engine and the export”.

A perfect example is the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) reaching 32 PetaFlops.

The Inter-University Accelerator Centre’s (IUAC) 3-PetaFlop system has the potential to address climate modeling and genome sequencing.

Another is the National Quantum Mission (NQM), with a budget of Rs 6,003.65 crore. It aims to indigenously develop hardware and algorithms.

Similarly, with the BharatGen LLM project, India is leveraging Artificial intelligence to address the country’s unique linguistic diversity.

The technological advancement is also reflected in India’s climb in the Global Innovation Index (now 39th) and its ranking as 6th in global IP filings. “It shows the health of the innovation ecosystem: the patent culture, R&D intensity, and investor confidence,” the report said.

Furthermore, the upcoming Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme and the recently launched NISAR satellite, aimed at taking high-resolution Earth scans, showcase India’s prowess in the space sector.

“Looking forward, the planned Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and the stated goal of lunar landings by 2040 suggest that India’s space strategy is no longer reactive but generational. If the last decade was about proving capability, the next will be about shaping the architecture of global space governance,” the report said.

Meanwhile, with over 70 per cent of Indian farms projected to use bio-enhanced seeds, the country's agri-tech story is also transformative. The move is expected to be a game-changer for food security and climate resilience.

About 40 per cent of farms have also adopted precision agriculture, leading to "up to 25 per cent higher yields, with 20-30 per cent lower water and fertiliser use", the report said.

The country has also expanded significantly into geospatial science by training over 6,000 students in spatial thinking across seven states. It can lead to mapping, data visualisation, and environmental modeling becoming everyday skills, enabling disaster planning and urban development, the report said.

--IANS

rvt/