From Technological Catch-Up to Global Scientific Leadership
India has often looked back at the technological opportunities it missed—aircraft, advanced weapons, new materials and biotechnology—and asked why it did not build them earlier.
There is value in asking that question. It can help identify weaknesses in our systems and encourage reforms.
But there is also a danger.
If India's ambition is always defined by what another country has already achieved, the country can remain permanently in catch-up mode.
The more important question is:
How can India lead the next wave of science and technology rather than simply catching up with the previous one?
The relationship between science and technology is changing rapidly. Fundamental research and practical applications are increasingly connected. Discoveries that once took decades to become useful technologies can now move towards application much faster.
The development of CRISPR gene-editing technology is a powerful example. Research into how bacteria defend themselves ultimately contributed to a technology with applications across medicine, agriculture and biotechnology.
For India, this creates a major opportunity.
The country has a large pool of scientific talent, universities, research institutions and national laboratories. What is needed is an ecosystem that allows these resources to work together more effectively.
Why India Must Move Beyond “Catch-Up”
Technological catch-up is not inherently negative. Much of industrial history has involved countries learning from technologies developed elsewhere and adapting them to their own needs.
However, catch-up becomes a problem when it becomes a permanent mindset.
A country that is always following others may have to:
- Pay for foreign licences and know-how
- Build on technological foundations created elsewhere
- Enter new technological fields late
- Spend more resources catching up with each new technological wave
- Miss opportunities to create completely new industries
India therefore needs a different ambition:
Not merely to reproduce yesterday's technology, but to create tomorrow's technology.
That requires stronger investment in fundamental research.
The Changing Relationship Between Science and Technology
For a long time, science and technology were treated almost as separate activities.
Science focused on discovering and understanding.
Technology focused on creating tools and solving practical problems.
Today, the boundary between them is increasingly blurred.
A fundamental discovery can rapidly become the foundation of a major technology.
This means that curiosity-driven research is not a luxury.
Research that initially appears theoretical or distant from practical applications can eventually produce transformative technologies.
India therefore needs to create an environment where scientists can explore important questions, take calculated risks and pursue long-term research.
Four Priorities for India's Scientific Future
The central argument is that India needs action in four interconnected areas:
1. High-quality education at scale
2. More open and collaborative national laboratories
3. Greater institutional flexibility and outcome-based accountability
4. Faster and more predictable research regulation
Together, these can help India move from technological catch-up towards global scientific leadership.
1. Invest in High-Quality Education at Scale
India's young population represents one of its greatest scientific assets.
But population alone does not create scientific leadership.
Young people need access to:
- High-quality teachers
- Modern laboratories
- Research opportunities
- Digital learning resources
- Scientific equipment
- Mentorship
- Opportunities to solve real-world problems
Artificial Intelligence can help expand access to high-quality education.
AI-enabled learning systems can potentially provide personalised explanations, practice opportunities and learning support to millions of students, including students who are poorly served by existing institutions.
However, technology should not replace scientific learning.
Students must learn science by doing science.
Experimental “Foundries”: Learning Science Through Practice
India should create more experimental spaces where students and young researchers can work with real instruments and real problems.
These could function as scientific “foundries” where ideas are tested, modified and transformed into practical solutions.
Such spaces could support work in:
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Biology
- Mathematics
- Engineering
- Biotechnology
- Artificial Intelligence
- Materials science
- Environmental science
A student who only reads about an experiment gains knowledge.
A student who designs, conducts, fails, analyses and repeats an experiment develops scientific thinking.
This culture of experimentation is essential for innovation.
2. Liberate National Laboratories
India has a significant network of national laboratories and research institutions.
But many laboratories remain relatively inaccessible to researchers, students and companies outside their own institutional boundaries.
This limits the wider use of expensive scientific infrastructure.
National laboratories should become more connected to:
Universities + Students + Researchers + Start-ups + Industry
A more open system could allow laboratories to share expertise, equipment and research capabilities with a much wider community.
A Three-Zone Collaboration Model
One proposed approach is to organise national laboratories around three levels of interaction:
🟢 Green Zone — Open Interaction
Facilities and expertise can be made widely available for research, education and scientific interaction.
🟠 Amber Zone — Collaboration
Structured collaborations can be established between laboratories, universities, companies and research groups.
🔴 Red Zone — Strategic Work
Research involving national security or other sensitive areas can remain under appropriate controls.
This model could combine openness with necessary safeguards.
The objective is not to remove security.
It is to ensure that security requirements do not unnecessarily prevent productive scientific collaboration.
3. Flexibility and Outcome-Based Accountability
Scientific research requires accountability.
Public money must be used responsibly, and institutions must follow appropriate rules.
But excessive procedural compliance can sometimes become a barrier to innovation.
Researchers can spend significant time dealing with administrative processes instead of conducting research.
The alternative is not the absence of accountability.
The alternative is better accountability.
Institutions that consistently demonstrate excellence should receive greater flexibility while remaining accountable for measurable results.
In simple terms:
Accountability should focus on outcomes, not on bureaucracy at every step.
A research institution should ultimately be judged by questions such as:
- What knowledge did it create?
- What discoveries emerged?
- What technologies were developed?
- What problems were solved?
- How many students and researchers benefited?
- What impact did the research have?
Building a Culture of Trust
One of the deeper challenges is the relationship between institutions and regulators.
A low-trust system often responds to poor compliance by creating more rules.
More rules then create additional administrative burdens.
This can produce a cycle:
Low trust → More rules → More bureaucracy → Slower research → Less flexibility
India needs to gradually move towards:
Trust → Responsibility → Measurable outcomes → Greater institutional freedom
High-performing universities, laboratories and research institutions that demonstrate integrity and excellence should have greater freedom to innovate.
4. Reform India's Research Regulatory System
Regulation is essential, particularly when research involves:
- Biological materials
- Human participants
- Clinical trials
- Biotechnology
- Medical technologies
Safety and ethics cannot be compromised.
But regulation should also be:
Fast + Predictable + Transparent + Risk-based
When approvals are slow and unpredictable, smaller institutions and companies can find it difficult to participate in research.
Large organisations may have the financial resources to absorb delays.
Smaller institutions and start-ups often cannot.
Therefore, efficient regulation is particularly important for creating a diverse research ecosystem.
From Procedure to Performance
A modern research system should not ask only:
“Did you follow every procedure?”
It should also ask:
“What meaningful result did the research produce?”
This does not mean abandoning rules.
It means designing rules intelligently so that they protect safety, ethics and public interest without unnecessarily preventing responsible innovation.
India Already Has Islands of Excellence
India already has universities, laboratories and research institutions producing high-quality work.
The challenge is to turn these islands of excellence into a connected national ecosystem.
The country does not need to create everything from scratch.
Instead, it needs to identify successful institutions and practices and make them more widespread.
The objective should be:
Make excellence the norm rather than the exception.
Science, Industry and Universities Must Work Together
Scientific discoveries rarely create maximum impact when they remain isolated inside laboratories.
A stronger ecosystem should connect:
Basic Research → Applied Research → Engineering → Industry → Start-ups → Society
Universities can generate knowledge and talent.
National laboratories can provide advanced infrastructure.
Industry can provide practical problems and pathways to scale.
Start-ups can transform discoveries into products and services.
Government can create supportive policies and responsible regulation.
Students and researchers provide the human creativity that connects the entire system.
The Bigger Opportunity: AI and Deep Technology
Artificial Intelligence is changing the way education, research and innovation are conducted.
India can use AI not merely as a consumer technology but as an enabler of scientific capacity.
AI can support:
- Education at scale
- Scientific literature analysis
- Research assistance
- Data analysis
- Simulation
- Drug discovery
- Materials research
- Engineering design
- Language technologies
- Scientific communication
But AI should complement human scientific curiosity.
The goal should not be simply to use AI.
The goal should be to use AI to expand India's capacity to discover and innovate.
A Step-by-Step Transformation
India does not need to transform its entire research system overnight.
Change can happen progressively.
The important point is to move successful examples from isolated institutions into the mainstream.
If education improves gradually, research infrastructure becomes more accessible, laboratories collaborate more openly, regulations become faster and institutions receive greater flexibility, the cumulative effect can be enormous.
Even relatively small annual improvements can produce major long-term change.
From Catching Up to Setting the Agenda
India's technological ambition should not be:
“How quickly can we build what others have already built?”
It should increasingly become:
“What can India discover, develop and contribute that the world does not yet have?”
That is the difference between being a technology follower and becoming a technology leader.
India has:
- A large young population
- Strong scientific talent
- Growing universities and research institutions
- National laboratories
- A rapidly expanding technology sector
- A growing start-up ecosystem
- Increasing access to Artificial Intelligence
The next step is to connect these strengths.
The Way Forward
India should focus on five broad priorities:
1. Build scientific talent
Expand high-quality education and give students opportunities to conduct real experiments.
2. Strengthen fundamental research
Support curiosity-driven research that can generate unexpected breakthroughs.
3. Open national research infrastructure
Allow greater collaboration among laboratories, universities, students and industries.
4. Reduce unnecessary bureaucracy
Give proven institutions greater flexibility while maintaining strong accountability.
5. Reform regulation
Make research and clinical approval processes faster, transparent and predictable without compromising safety or ethics.
A Science-Driven India
The ultimate goal is larger than technological self-reliance.
A strong research ecosystem can contribute to:
Scientific discovery
Technological innovation
Economic growth
High-skilled employment
Better education
Healthcare solutions
National security
Environmental solutions
Global competitiveness
India can become not just a consumer of advanced technologies but a creator of technologies that influence the world.
Conclusion
India has spent decades asking why it missed previous technological opportunities.
The more important question now is:
What will India do before the next technological opportunity passes?
The future belongs to countries that can connect fundamental science, education, research infrastructure, industry, entrepreneurship and flexible governance.
India already has many examples of excellence.
The challenge is to scale them.
The next technological wave has not yet left.
India has an opportunity not merely to catch the next bus—but to help build it, power it and take it to the world.
🌏 Pocket Literature – Key Message
India's scientific future will depend not only on how much research it conducts, but on how effectively it converts curiosity into discovery, discovery into technology, and technology into solutions for India and the world.
🔑 Key Takeaways
Beyond Catch-Up
Move from copying established technologies to creating new scientific and technological frontiers.
Education at Scale
Use AI and modern learning systems to expand access to high-quality education.
Experimental Foundries
Give students and young researchers opportunities to learn science through hands-on experimentation.
Open National Laboratories
Connect national research infrastructure with universities, students and industry.
Institutional Flexibility
Give high-performing institutions greater freedom while maintaining accountability.
Outcome-Based Governance
Measure research institutions by meaningful results rather than excessive procedural compliance.
Regulatory Reform
Make research and clinical approval systems faster, predictable and responsible.
Global Scientific Leadership
Turn India's islands of excellence into a connected ecosystem capable of producing technologies with worldwide impact.
📌 Source & Reference
Primary Source:
K. VijayRaghavan & Archish Mittal, “Indian research can shape the world”, The Hindu, published 7 October 2026. The article argues that India should move beyond technological “catch-up” and focus on fundamental research, education, accessible national laboratories, institutional flexibility and regulatory reform.
K. VijayRaghavan is identified with the article as the former Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and Chair of Ashoka University's Science Advisory Council. Archish Mittal is identified as Vice-President of Iron Pillar.
Publication date: 7 October 2026
Subject: Science & Technology • Research & Development • Education • Innovation • Policy
Relevance: Indian scientific research, technological leadership, national laboratories, AI-enabled education, research regulation and innovation policy.
⚠️ Editorial Note
This Pocket Literature post is an educational summary and expanded interpretation of the ideas presented in the referenced article. It is not intended to reproduce the original article in full. The original article, photographs and other copyrighted material remain the property of their respective copyright holders.
Original article: K. VijayRaghavan & Archish Mittal, The Hindu, 7 October 2026.
Published for educational awareness and discussion by Pocket Literature.