Indian Research Held Back By Bureaucracy: Prof V. Ramgopal Rao

Professor V. Ramgopal Rao, Group Vice-Chancellor of the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani and former Director of IIT Delhi, delivered a hard-hitting critique of India’s research ecosystem, focusing on the bureaucratic inefficiencies that hinder academic progress. 

Rao called for urgent reforms to enable innovation and sustainability in Indian research space. One of the key issues he raised was the rigid evaluation process for government-funded projects. He mentioned how government systems prevent critical assessment of projects by not allowing them to be graded below “satisfactory.” 

“What is the lowest grade you can give to a project? Satisfactory. If any project is given below satisfactory, the people who funded the project will have a problem,” he said. Rao explained anything below satisfactory grade, leads to audits, enquiries and accusations of mismanagement, which can have a chilling effect on research institutions. 

“There’ll be enquiries and all of that. That is a problem right now in the government system,” he added, suggesting that this culture of fear discourages genuine feedback and impedes research quality.

Bureaucracy-related Hurdles

The BITS Pilani Vice-Chancellor then addressed how bureaucracy has infiltrated India’s research infrastructure, making it difficult to procure vital research tools. 

Sharing a striking example, he said, “To order an equipment in IIT Delhi, it takes 11 months.” He linked this delay to excessive red tape and mentioned that it severely affects research timelines and innovation capabilities. According to him, the procurement process is slowed down by several layers of government requirements, which he collectively referred to as the “Five Gs.”

First among these is the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Rao pointed to the Rs 150 crore GST notice served to IIT Delhi as an example of how tax policies create financial strain on academic institutions. He then spoke about the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), a mandatory procurement platform for government institutions. 

“Whether you are buying a bundle of papers or a transmission electron microscope, you have to go through GeM,” he said. He added that the platform is “a nightmare” compared to commercial e-commerce sites. 

The third hurdle that he candidly termed as “Global Tender Enquiry (GTE)” process, requires government approval for importing any equipment. 

“From Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 200 crore, if I want to import in an IIT, I need to seek permission from the Secretary of the Ministry of Education,” he said, explaining that this approval process alone can take four months.

The fourth issue he spoke on was the “Government Finance Rules (GFR)”, a dense set of guidelines governing financial transactions in public institutions, which he argued were too complex for even experts to navigate easily. 

Lastly, Prof. Rao pointed out broader governance problems that make research funding unsustainable. He cited the financial burden placed on institutions like IIT Delhi, which received Rs 1300 crore in research funding over five years but retained only 5 per cent as overhead. 

“The rest of the money went to faculty members to buy equipment, hire students, conduct research, and publish papers,” he said, adding that this small overhead return made it impossible for institutions to cover essential expenses, including maintaining research infrastructure. 

“The more research you do, the worse you become,” he said, suggesting that India’s research institutions are structurally disadvantaged when compared to international universities like Stanford, which retain 50 per cent of research overheads.

"The ministries know, everybody knows (about these issues), but it's not getting addressed right now," Rao added.

Adding to the points made by Rao at Nasscom Design and Engineering Summit 2024, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder of Infosys and Chairman of Axilor Ventures, stressed the importance of private and philanthropic funding to complement government support. 

“Private funding, philanthropic funding is an answer because you know how much needs to be spent on maintenance and support,” said Gopalakrishnan. 

A comparison of India's R&D expenditure with other nations shows a big gap. India allocates just 0.7 per cent of its GDP to research and development, whereas the United States spends 2.8 per cent, China 2.1 per cent, Israel 4.3 per cent, and South Korea 4.6 per cent. This disparity is evident in the number of researchers per 100,000 people: India has only 25, compared to 441 in the US, 130 in China, 834 in Israel, and 749 in South Korea.

Both leaders agreed that industry participation is crucial for the survival of academic research in India. Gopalakrishnan stressed that “everything comes under government rules because the primary funder is the government. We need industry to come forward and fund it.”

Rohit Chintapali

BW Reporters The author is Regional Editor (Technology & South) at BW Businessworld.