WE HAVE TO GET TO 4-5% OF GDP IN RESEARCH

While the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, in 2019, recommended that India more than double its expenditure on research and development (R&D) to 2 per cent of GDP by 2022, N.R. Narayana Murthy, the legendary founder of Infosys, thinks this wouldn’t be enough to solve the pressing problems facing the nation. He advises a much higher spending on research and stresses that taxpayers should fund not only applied research but also fundamental research, which can take several decades to show results. In an interview to Business Today’s Goutam Das on the sidelines of Infosys Prize, an annual award that honours achievements of researchers and scientists, Murthy also explained why India needs to change some of its cultural approaches to learning. Edited excerpts:

- Goutam Das

When one talks of nation building, there seems to be a tendency to look at applied research more than basic or fundamental research. From where India is right now, what sort of research do you think is more important?

In India, where there is a lot of poverty, and lots of other problems, we have to focus on solving the problems around us. For example, healthcare, education, agriculture, human work productivity, infrastructure are problems. These need solutions. To that extent, most focus should be on applied research. On the other hand, I would not want to distinguish between fundamental research and applied research because fundamental problems are ‘not-yet-applied research’ problems. Look at quantum mechanics. Without it, we wouldn’t have transistors, DVDs, laser printers or laser surgeries. We wouldn’t have quantum computers. Same thing with Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. It is used in GPS. We shouldn’t be hung up on fundamental research or applied research.

What would convince governments to look more at the necessity of fundamental research since it has long lead times?

We have to set apart a percentage of our GDP for solving long-term fundamental research problems. That will yield results, may be not in 10-20 years. Sometimes, they yield results in 50-100 years. But they will yield results. We have to do long-term planning. But we may set apart a larger percentage of GDP on solving problems that we see around us today.

Is there a percentage that you would recommend for a country like India? The country spends 0.7 per cent (of GDP) on R&D today.