A look back to look ahead: Where Indian science stood in 2024

In 2024, India ranked 39th in the Global Innovation Index and sixth in Intellectual Property Filings Worldwide. But how was the year overall for science in India?

Between 2017 and 2022, India’s research production climbed by 54%, making it the world's third-largest producer of research publications. The Nature Index Research Leaders 2024 study also emphasises India’s significant rise in research output, with the country moving to ninth overall and eighth in natural sciences.

The execution of the ANRF (Anusandhan National Research Foundation), formed by the ANRF Act of 2023, is the key step taken by the Indian government in the field of science and technology. This institution intends to unite all science and technology financing under one tent while also unleashing Indian research and innovation capability to reach worldwide scientific and technical superiority. The ANRF roadmap includes plans for short-term, medium-term, and long-term research and development programs.

However, many in the Indian scientific community have pointed out severe faults. The 15-member Governing Board and the 16-member Executive Council are dominated by bureaucrats and officials, with few members from central and state institutions or colleges. Furthermore, the administration proposed an ambitious Rs 50,000 crore budget. However, the small print states that 70% of its funding will come from non-government sources, primarily the industry, which policy experts call an illusion. While India’s underfunding of R&D is well-documented, and policy experts have argued that the budget should be increased to 4% of GDP to make Indian innovations globally competitive, the budget has consistently fallen or remained at 0.6%, significantly below the global average. Investment in science and technology is dropping alarmingly; for example, 2008-09, S&T spending was around 0.8% of GDP, but it fell to only 0.64% in 2020-21.

Another significant endeavour was the One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) project, which seeks to give equitable access to a wide selection of foreign research publications to all government-funded educational institutions in India via a single subscription. The first phase would provide all government institutes and universities with access to academic publications published in 13,400 foreign journals. Educators and scientific experts argue that limiting access to just central institutions, which account for a small fraction of India's overall higher education institutions, defeats the objective of the subscription policy. Furthermore, in accordance with ONOS policy, the institutions' autonomous library budgets will be capped, limiting subscriptions to highly domain-specific publications, which will have a negative impact.

Some of the key highlights of Indian S&T during 2024

The launch of the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPOSAT), a cutting-edge space X-ray observatory designed to investigate mysterious astronomical phenomena like black holes and neutron stars, marked the beginning of the new year 2024.

The Sun's atmosphere, known as the solar corona, is generally invisible owing to the Sun's intense glare and can only be seen briefly during the complete solar eclipse. Totality happens when the Moon's centre coincides perfectly with the Sun's centre, blocking the blazing sunlight and causing the pale corona to shine. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Proba-3 consists of two satellites: the Coronagraph spacecraft and the Occulter spacecraft, which will align in a straight line to the centre of the Sun with a few millimetres and arc seconds precision at distances of around 150 metres for six hours at a time, allowing the coronagraph to study the elusive solar corona. The ESA probes were launched by the ISRO on December 5 this year.

In addition, ISRO launched an earth observation satellite, EOS-08, on SSLV-D3 in August and INSAT-3DS in February on GSLV-F14. The year-end launch of the ambitious SpaDeX (Space Docking Experiment) on December 30, 2024 marks another milestone in ISRO's history.

Also read: ISRO to perform breathtaking acrobatics in space

In the field of nuclear energy, the country's first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR 500 Mwe) began core loading in March 2024. This reactor is an essential step towards India's three-stage closed fuel cycle nuclear power program. The PFBR reactor will not only consume nuclear fuel but also convert or 'breed' thorium, which is abundant in India, into nuclear fuel, thus the name 'Breeder Reactor'. Furthermore, the first two indigenous 700 MWe PHWR units at Kakrapar, Gujarat (KAPS - 3 & 4) have begun commercial operation. In contrast, the Rawatbhata Atomic Power Project (RAPP) Unit-7, the third indigenous 700 MWe PHWR, has completed the first fuel loading and reached First Criticality.

In the area of renewable energy, aligned with the target of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy, 27 GW capacity was added during calendar year 2024, taking the total installed Renewable Energy capacity to 200+ GW. Solar Energy capacity reached 94.17 GW and Wind capacity at 47.96 GW in 2024.

The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) was established in India in 2015 to make India a supercomputer superpower by 2024, with a total supercomputer capacity of 32 PetaFlops nationwide. Over 10,000 academics, including more than 1,700 PhD scholars, use these supercomputers nationwide at over 200 academic institutions and R&D facilities. NSM has enabled researchers in Tier II and Tier III cities to undertake research by offering access to cutting-edge supercomputing resources. However, India's "AIRAWAT" supercomputer ranks 75th in the top 500 Global Supercomputing List. Compared to this, China had 63 supercomputers in the top 500 global list, making it the second-ranked country behind the United States, which had 173 supercomputers as of November 2024; India has just six, indicating how far behind we lag.

In a foresighted approach, the Government of India has approved four semiconductor manufacturing units in India under the Semicon India Programme and a National Program on Artificial Intelligence" to establish a comprehensive programme for leveraging transformative technologies to foster inclusion, innovation and adoption for social impact. It encompasses four broad pillars of the AI ecosystem, including Skilling in AI, Responsible AI, Data Management Office and the National Centre on AI.

As part of the Digital India initiative, a language translation platform called BHASHINI is being built to transcend language barriers, ensuring that every citizen can effortlessly access digital services in their language. The voice-enabled BHASHINI is expected to provide technology translation services in 22 scheduled Indian languages to bridge language and the digital divide. Further, an initiative to establish Four Thematic Hubs and Targets Leadership in Quantum Technologies as part of the National Quantum Mission is on the anvil.

Mission Mausam, a significant project to boost India’s weather and climate-related science, research, and service, has been approved with an outlay of 2,000 crores over two years. If the budget is actually released in the coming years, weather-related predictions and models will see a quantum jump in their predictions' reliability.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, has developed a BioE3 Policy that aims to position India as a global leader in bio-based innovations. The policy focuses on sustainable biomanufacturing in thematic areas such as enzymes, smart proteins, and bio-based chemicals, supporting economic growth while ensuring environmental sustainability.

Around 2,60,000 scholarly papers from India are published every year in the area of fundamental science and technology. It is almost impossible to scan them all. I am mentioning illustrations that struck my attention and piqued my interest.

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As we age, our brain ages. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Berhampur, have created a method to quantify these changes. This might help us better understand ageing and its accompanying cognitive issues.

Insulin must be refrigerated at temperatures ranging from 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, and shipping it to other destinations presents logistical challenges. Researchers at IIT Kanpur have discovered an insulin analogue that is stable even at room temperature and can be readily transported.

Fuel cells have the potential to become a green alternative to fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel, but the toxic and expensive catalysts have been limiting factors. Now, a team of researchers from IISER Pune has discovered how to create a cobalt-based molecular catalyst that can aid in the creation of non-polluting and cost-effective fuel cells.

Researchers at IISER Mohali have discovered a crucial molecular regulator whose deficit causes decreased dendritic cell activity in elderly adults, making them more vulnerable to infections. The study's findings might help manage infections in ageing populations.

A research team at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) in Mohali has created a novel self-powered dressing aid with antibacterial qualities for chronic wounds. This aid may boost wound healing, making it a potential all-in-one therapy for diabetic foot ulcers.

Despite global warming, the frequency of cold waves is rising, even in India. Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER Mohali) and the National Institute for Space Research in Brazil have discovered critical variables driving severe winter temperatures, which might help predict the onset of cold wave conditions better.

Based on two sets of data collected during 2017 and later 2021 from 1,900 households across 12 districts, a team of international researchers, including from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, have sown that empowering women in decision-making, in particular power over cash income decisions, ensures a diverse fare on the dinner table. A 10 percentage point increase in the empowerment index reduced the chances of undernourishment in young children.

Researchers at IIT Madras have shown that charged water microdroplets could be used to break minerals and make nanomaterials. Ammonia, for example, is currently generated using a high-energy Haber-Bosch process, although nitrogen microdroplets may also be used to create it at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure.

A study team from India and the United States called 'Project Prakash' discovered that newborn babies primarily view the world in black and white, with colour vision developing until around the age of four months. They also discovered that the delay in the development of colour vision is critical for total vision development.

Testing blood or urine samples can take several hours to days, and the delay might be vital for patients who need the results urgently. A research team from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Kolkata has devised a novel approach that produces quick results using a procedure known as microbubble lithography.

While India was making strides from space technology to brain research, for the first time, India's highest civilian science awards were mired in political intervention controversy. In the past, many scientists who have expressed views contrary to the opinions of the government in power (for example, pro and anti-GM crop views) were bestowed the national award for science and technology, and the sole criteria were their scientific achievements as assessed by their peers.

The present government abolished the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize for Science and Technology and other awards bestowed by various S&T institutions and replaced it with Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar. Further, for the first time, the expert committee’s recommendations have been set aside, and three scientists with international repute have been denied the award, allegedly for voicing views critical of the government.