The Quest to be a Science Superpower: Where India’s Research Is and What It Will Take to Get Ahead

Moving past celebratory headlines of space exploration and vaccine manufacturing, this essential e-book asks the tough questions about what it really takes to convert research into industrial capability, and capability industrial into global influence.

The Hindu Group’s e-book, The Quest to be a Science Superpower: Where India’s Research Is and What It Will Take to Get Ahead acknowledges India’s surge in R&D spending, patent filings, and its vast STEM talent pool. At the same time, it unflinchingly examines the persistent systemic barriers that hold the nation back. By comparing India’s trajectory with established giants like the U.S. and China, as well as the East Asian “tigers,” the authors reveal crucial missing links in India’s ambitions. The book also outlines the rigorous road to Viksit Bharat by 2047, arguing that true superpower status demands moving from being a mere assembly hub to becoming a foundational innovator.

Through expert analyses and commentary informed by experience and skill, the book dissects the ingredients needed to build a robust, interconnected innovation ecosystem. It also explores the gaps in translating laboratory research into commercial development, the heavy administrative burdens stifling world-class breakthroughs, the concerning “brain drain” of top talent, and the dangerous rise of institutionalised pseudoscience.

Read this for a piercing, balanced examination of the nation’s scientific and technological landscape.

WHAT’S INSIDE?

• The ingredients of being a scientific superpower — and where India stands by Vasudevan Mukunth

• Indian science has more money, more papers, and more patents — but also yawning gaps by Jacob Koshy

• Why world-class research is still the exception, not the rule, in India by Rohini Subrahmanyam

• How research becomes development — and why sometimes it does not by Dinesh C. Sharma

• The Indians of science and their long-winded path to success by Sanjukta Mondal

• Why society needs science, and why science needs society by Sayantan Datta

• Critical thinking — a crucial missing piece in India’s scientific progress by Mahima Jain

• The world’s scientific superpowers reveal the kryptonite to India’s own ambitions by Jacob Koshy

• The road to ‘Viksit Bharat’, with science and technology as India’s guide by T.V. Padma

To download a sample of the e-book: https://newsth.live/science-superpower-india-sample

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