R&D India

Newsletter 

Mar 2008

Project Sponsored by 

DSIR, New Delhi

http://www.rndindia.info 

Mar. 2008

India is slow, but on the Right Track in R&D  Industrial R&D 2007 – Govt. of India & the Industries Nanotech Research on the Rise  Nanotechnology Initiatives by GoI  "China’s R&D still has a long way to go"

 

R&D News of the Quarter

 

Ashok Leyland Develops First MPFI CNG Bus Engine
Tata Motors set for a ride in air car
SABIC to make India R&D hub for automotives
Infosys to increase patent filings 
Sasken likely to buy Nokia's R&D unit in Germany
Varda biotech's new R&D centre in Hyderabad
HC protection for Mitra's diasnostic kit patent
Govt. to digitise patents: Online public access by Jan 200LG Electronics plans to invest $100 million in India by 2010

Fewer captive R&D projects coming to India

 

Statistically Speaking

 

Share of Total Global R&D Spending
Union Budget provisions for Science and Technology

Global R&D Spending

Total Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D [GERD]

20 Top Global R&D Spending Companies - 2007

 

End Notes

 

Industrial R&D - India is slow but on the Right Track R&D spending continues to expand on a global basis. Worldwide spending (and performance) exceeded $1 trillion in 2006 and continues to expand at a substantially higher rate than most countries’ inflation rates. R&D Magazine, forecasts that global R&D spending will reach $1,210 billion in 2008, 7.6% higher than in 2007.  Much of this growth continues to be fueled by a rapid expansion of R&D in China, whose spending is expected to grow by nearly 24% in 2008 to $216.8 billion—about 18% of global spending, up from 14% just two years ago.  On average, about two thirds or more of any country’s R&D work is performed in an industrial setting—in the U.S., it is 72% and in China it’s 70%. Three industries—pharmaceutical, automotive, and information and communication technologies (ICT) constitute all but one of the top 20 global R&D spending commercial companies in the world.  Asia has overtaken the Americas and Europe. The U.S. still has the edge and in R&D and its R&D investments make up one-third of the world's total. Where as rest of the world has shown decline in R&D in small but varying degrees over the last three years. China and India are the exceptions. In China it has grown from 13.50 percent in 2006 and is forecast by R&D Magazine to grow at 17.90 percent of the world's share in 2008. The reason for this assive growth could be seen inthe turnover from the Chinese industry. India does not have the same luxury of spending as much on R&D, as China does. But it has shown a trend of rapid increase particularly after the year 2000. During the 2006 - 2008 period, the R&D Magazine's estimate and forecast represents India's share as 3.7 of the world's share. It is not on the decline, as the rest of the countries in the reckoning. Our concerns on R&D are, in a way, different. The most recent Union Budget (2008-09 shows an increase in allocation in all the budget heads relating to science and technology [ See Table ] A closer look at the related statistics in the budget documents make us wonder whether the funds are cut down due to our lack of absorbing capacity?  S&T budget line items were revised to reduce the allocation in 2007-08. Can we fare better in fund utilization during the current year? We have to wait and watch. But in the meantime, there is a reason to be optimistic on the industrial R&D front. Industries have enhanced their R&D allocations. Pharmaceuticals, automobile and ICT industries are in the front, in tandem with the global trends in R&D. DSIR's budget allocation totals to Rs. 2078 crores and the industrial in-house allocation in previous year was Rs. 7,460 crores. Industry involvement is roughly three-folds more than the government allocations. Well, there are miles to go before we catch up the two leaders. Yet, it is heartening that we are going the rightway and have made the headway in the recent years. This optimism can be seen reflected in various items that make this issue of the R&D Newsletter. New Indian companies are buying up R&D units elsewhere, auto  sector has taken off, patents filing of Infosys is going up, and more. It is heartening to note that happy days are ahead!.  Share of Total Global R&D Spending   2006 2007 2008 Americas 35.70% 34.40% 33.10% U.S. 32.70% 31.40% 30.10% Asia 36.90% 38.80% 40.80% China 13.50% 15.60% 17.90% Japan 13.00% 12.80% 12.40% India 3.70% 3.70% 3.70% Europe 25.20% 24.60% 23.90% Rest of World 2.20% 2.20% 2.10%   Union Budget provisions for Science and Technology Rs. Crores    2007-08 Revised 2008-09   Plan Non-plan Total % Plan Non-plan Total % Agricultural Research 1620 840 2460 18.41 1760 920 2680 17.36 Dept. of Atomic Energy 1686 1816 3503 26.40 1958 1950 3908 25.31 Dept. of Space 2831 459 3290 24.62 3600 474 4074 26.39 Dept. of Sc & tech. 1270 241 1511 11.31 1530 250 1780 12.53 Dept. of Sc & Ind. Res. 1060 838 1898 14.20 1200 878 2078 13.46 Dept. of Bio. Tech. 683 20 703 5.26 900 19 919 5.95 Figures rounded to the nearest crore Source: India: Ministry of Finance: Budget Documents 2008-09 Industrial R&D 2007 – Government of India and the Industries   The outlay for Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in the current budget (2008-09)is Rs. 1200 crore under plan schemes and 878 under non-plan schemes.  The total of Rs. 2078 is for Technology Promotion, Development and utilization programmes of the Department and its support to Central Electronics Ltd. The outlay is also to provide grants-in aid to CSIR, which seeks to carry out activities to continuously build and refurbish competence at globally competitive levels. Some of the significant programmes which would be supported include spearheading small civilian aircraft design, development & manufacture, exploration and exploitation of microbial wealth of India for novel compounds and bio-transformation process, molecular biology of selected pathogens for developing drug targets, asthmatic and allergic disorders mitigation mission, newer scientific herbal preparations for global positioning, development of key technologies for photonics and opto electronics, developing capabilities and facilities for Micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) and Sensors, etc. It would also provide support for the scheme on New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) to attain global leadership position, in a few select niche areas, based on technology advantage.  As a contrast to this the total Industrial in-house R&D expenditure on both capital and current accounts for the year 2007 was Rs. 7460.95.  This amount also includes R&D investments by several public sector industries, which is not coming from the budget allocation of the Govt. of India shown above.  We have to give all credit to the industries, as they have shown more than three-fold increase in their R&D budgets from 2000 onwards. These figures exclude the FDI in R&D. With the number of R&D centres of MNCs going up from 100 to 300 in the past 3-4 years, India has witnessed a significant increase in private R&D expenditure. The total private R&D expenditure is estimated to have risen from Rs. 3,200 crores in 2002 to Rs. 16,400 crores in 2005. This led to an increase in R&D expenditure from 16,000 crores to Rs. 34,000 crores in 2005. Only point of concern is the intensity has remained low around 0.50 percent of the turnover. And, this among those that invest in R&D. If we take the industrial turnover of the rest of the businesses the figures would be abysmal. Due to forward-looking industrial policies this sector has registered a phenomenal growth, but the vision of the Indian companies has not encompass the need for R&D to sustain the growth. R&D News Picks of the Quarter  Ashok Leyland Develops First MPFI CNG Bus Engine Ashok Leyland Ltd of the Hinduja Group has developed India's first six-cylinder compressed natural gas (CNG) engine for buses. This CNG engine, which employs the multi-point fuel injection (MPFI) system, conforms to the Euro IV emission standards and is the result of the company's in-house research and development (R&D) efforts.   Tata Motors set for a ride in air car Tata Motors is likely to produce a car that will operate on compressed car. The car, developed by Guy Negre of France, will depend of pressurised air to move the pistons. Tata Motors has signed a 20 million euro agreement to produce the car in India. The vehicle is protected by about 50 patents and will cost about 3,500-4,000 euros.   SABIC to make India R&D hub for automotives SABIC Innovative Plastics plans to make India its automotive design and engineering hub. The company plans to set up a fully- integrated design and engineering centre in India. The integrated design centre will be located at Bangalore, and another satellite centre at Baroda.   Infosys to increase patent filings  Infosys Technologies Ltd expects its patent filings to increase with its primary R&D centre, Software Engineering and Technology Labs (SETLabs), expanding the scope of research to new areas. The company applied for a total of 16 patents in the US and India in Oct-Dec 2007. The company has filed an aggregate of 109 patent applications in the US and India and has been granted two patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office. About 50 percent of the patent applications have been generated by SETLabs. SETLabs has been focussing on research in software engineering and software oriented architecture.   Sasken likely to buy Nokia's R&D unit in Germany Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd is likely to acquire the research and development unit of Nokia in Germany. The company intends to realign its product portfolio with market realities. Sasken is planning to set up special economic zones (SEZs) in Chennai and Bangalore. Varda biotech's new R&D centre in Hyderabad Varda Biotech, based in Mumbai, plans to set up a research and development centre in Hyderabad. This R&D centre, which will be modelled along the lines of the company's centre in Bangalore, will focus on food testing and services. The new R&D centre will be funded from internal accruals.   HC protection for Mitra's diasnostic kit patent The Delhi High Court has granted protection to J Mitra Company's HCV TRI-DOT, a device used in the detection of Hepatitis C. The High Court has refrained Span Diagnostics from producing or selling any product that violates Mitra's patent on the diagnostic kit. The Assistant Controller of Patents and Designs has granted the patent to J Mitra for HCV TRI-DOT in Sep 2006.   Govt. to digitize patents: Online public access by Jan 2009 The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India, has decided to digitise all patents granted till date and open up the database for online public access. The department expects to complete the digitisation process by Dec 2008 and make the data available online by Jan 2009. The department has set up a working group in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry to assist intellectual property offices meet the growing demands of industry and trade.   LG Electronics plans to invest $100 million in India by 2010 LG Electronics (LG) is planning to invest $100 million in India by 2010 mostly on research and development (R&D) activities. LG will also set up a new R&D facility for product development and customise products for the local market, making the products compliant to dust, voltage fluctuation and high temperature. Fewer captive R&D projects coming to India Fewer research and development projects have been opting for India in the last two years. The interest has been on the wane among captive centres or fully owned units of foreign organisations despite that the demand for services by independent, third party service providers has been on the rise. Only 15 overseas technical firms opened India development units in 2007 as against 76 in 2004, 70 in 2005 and 48 in 2006. The growth in captives has been slower at 20 percent while vendors grew at 28 percent. The declining interest is attributed to the increase in operational cost in addition to other factors such as insufficient hardware, talent pool and infrastructure and inability of firms to keep engineers engaged in work.

Nanotech Research on the Rise  More than $12 billion was invested in nanotechnology R&D worldwide in 2006, according to a recent report by market intelligence company Lux Research. From this research, more than $50 billion in nano-enabled products were produced and sold. The growth rate in this area is expected to impact $2.9 trillion worth of products across the value chain by 2014. The study of nanotech includes nanomaterials, nanointermediates, and nano-enabled products.  Nanomaterials include ceramic nanoparticles for structural composites, catalysts, and coatings; metal nanoparticles for catalysts and sensors; nanoporous materials for insulation, optics, and electronics; and carbon nanotubes in a plethora of applications.  Smaller markets include dendrimers, quantum dots, fullerenes, nanowires, and polymer nanoparticles. A leading application area is also in drug delivery with about $9 billion in products by 2010.  Global corporations spent a combined $5.3 billion on nanotech R&D in 2006,   China’s corporate nanotech investment grew 68% from its 2005 total to $165 million (PPP) in 2006.  Overall, the U.S., Japan, Germany, and South Korea lead all other countries in their use and implementation of nanotechnology. China is close fifth in the rankings.  Indian efforts on this new technology is not far behind.Considering the importance of research and development of this new frontier area, the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, has been encouraging tremendous thrust on Nanomaterials. Government of India's Nanomaterials Science and Technology Initiative (NSTI) has offered an opportunity for greater cooperation. The Indo-US joint forum on Science and Technology has identified this area of research for intense cooperation.  Nanotech in India Indian industries have started understanding the commercial viability of nanotechnology-based products and their impact on national economy. It will be targeted towards the main streams like electronics, healthcare markets, and other industrial products. There are several academic programmes with the nanotech focus. The following are the representative ones: Amity Institute of Nanotechnology  offers an M.Tech Course in Nanotechnology. The Amrita Nano Biomedical Engineering Centre conducts R&D work on devices and components at the interface between biology, medicine and engineering where nanotechnology can provide a significant value added benefit over existing technologies. Country's premier institute in the field - Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research's activities include synthesis and characterization of a variety of nano objects, tubes, wires and particles of different materials, their chemical modification and organization as well as thin films and powders of transition metal oxides showing interesting physical properties. Panjab University Chandigarh: Centre for Nanoscience & Nanotechnology and Panjab University Jindal Research Group also engage in nanotech research at the cutting edge level. There are many industries which have taken up to nanotechnology products. Among these are: Auto Fibre Craft which manufacture nano-size silver powder for use in electronic applications Bee Chems engaged in manufactures various grades of Nano Silica products, Cranes Software MEMS and Nanotechnology. MP3s Nanotechnology engaging in nanotechnology products for textile wastewater recycling in dyeing and other process. NanoCET Yashnanotech, United Nanotechnologies, U-Shu Nanotech, Velbionanotech are the other companies in the business.   Nanotechnology Initiatives by Govt. of India  Government of India has given considerable thrust to nano-science and  nano-technology in the current budget. The allocation for the research and development on this technology has increased from Rs. 120 crores in 2007-08 to Rs. 145 crores in 2008-09.   The national mission on nano-science and nano-technology has been formulated. The thrust areas as identified by this mission are as follows:  Studies of free atomic and molecular clusters, cluster assembled materials, low-dimensional structures and quantum dots. Nano-electronics and nano-photonics.Appliations Nano-coatings, nano-device based sensors and diagnostics kits, controlled and targeted drug delivery systems, nano-phosphor based display devices etc. Biotechnology Research    While biotechnology was the technology realm of Europe and the U.S. for many years, it has now become a global industry. The maturing of the industry and the competition for resources (both human and technological) is accelerating as the number of countries now supporting viable and growing life science industries grows. China and India are among the leaders in this new growth.      BHEL R&D Executive Director shares his experiences and views on corporate R&D “For all practical purposes we are at par with our competitors in matters of technology"   Global R&D Spending   GDP 2006 US$ Billion R&D % of GDP GDP (PPP) 2006 US$ Billion   GDP (PPP) 2007 US$ Billion R&D (PPP) 2008 US$ Billion   Americas 15,155 2.47 374.9 387.0 401.1 U.S. 12,416 2.76 343 353.0 365 Asia 19,203 2.02 387.2 436.2 494.4 China 8,815 1.61 141.7 175 216.8 Japan 3,995 3.4 136.7 143.5 150.4 India 3,779 1.03 38.8 41.8 45 Europe 14,072 1.88 264.3 276.3 288.8 Rest of World 2,073 1.11 23