Evolution of science and technology policy of India

By the early 21st century, India came to the controversial legacy. On the one hand, there waseconomic liberalization and reforms of 1991, attracting foreign investment, business and educational connections with the former parentstate and the United States; world leadership in the information technology industry; young people, speaking English and having accessto education and work overseas, strong private sector, actively developing the legal and financial systems and the GDP growth by anaverage of 9% per year. On the other hand, there was an extremely low living standard of most of the population, weak infrastructure,low availability of water, food, medicine; ethnic problem, bureaucracy, and actively developing neighbours - China and Pakistan, inrelation to which the technological gap was not good for India. Under these conditions, the development of science and technology isvital to India, as it will help solve many problems of internal development, and will lead the country to the world's leaders. The articletraces the evolution of science and technology policy since India getting independence in 1947 till today in three major phases involvedin the strategic change of policy. The first stage was marked by the need for India to carry out the industrialization of economy asquickly as possible through the policy of import substitution. The second phase of science and technology policy of India is associatedwith deterioration of economic indicators of development, decline in agricultural production. The problem of food shortages and povertyhas become critical. As a result of scientific and technological policy emphasis has been shifted from the scientific to technologicaldevelopment. The main task was seen as rejection of imported technologies, and it was supposed to meet the technological needs oflocal industry by research institutions created over the preceding decade. Thus, the policy of technology import has been revised. Thethird phase of scientific and technological development was due to the actions of the Government of India to liberalize the economy. Itallowed to attract foreign capital and technology in the country, but on the other hand revealed shortcomings of the existing system. Oneof the problems of the created infrastructure was weak interaction of the participants of scientific and technological process: universitiesand research institutions with industry. The need to develop an integrated system approach to the problem led to the formation of acommon innovation policy.

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