NITI Aayog Launches India Science and Technology Scoreboard to Map State Research Ecosystems
NITI Aayog launched the India Science and Technology (S&T) Scoreboard on 3 November 2026. It is an interactive online data platform built by NITI Aayog's Science and Technology Division.
It brings together state-level data on research publications, patents, deep-tech startups, Atal Tinkering Labs in schools, R&D labs, higher education institutions, research funding (central, state and private) and state S&T, startup and innovation policies.
Users can see a national overview, state profiles and benchmarking (comparing against others), compare any two states or Union Territories, and check research output in 11 priority areas such as clean energy, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, critical minerals and agriculture.
The aim is to fix a long-standing gap: India has lacked reliable, comparable data on science and technology at the state level. NITI Aayog said states must play a bigger role, and research must move from labs to the factory floor.
Context given at the launch: India ranks 38th in the Global Innovation Index (up from 81st in 2015), third in the world in scientific publications and sixth in patent filings. The share of Indian residents among patent applicants rose from 25.5% to 56%. About 67% of India's research papers from 2001 to 2020 came from roughly 450 centrally funded institutions.
NITI Aayog plans regular data updates, more work with states and, later, global comparisons.
Global Innovation Index (GII): How Countries Are Ranked on Innovation
The Global Innovation Index, or GII, is a yearly ranking of how innovative the world's economies are. It is published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations agency based in Geneva. It gives each country a score out of 100 using around 80 indicators, from school enrolment and research spending to patents, high-tech exports and creative goods. In the 2026 edition, it ranked 139 economies, and India stood 38th.
At the launch of the S&T Scoreboard, NITI Aayog cited India's climb to 38th in the GII. The scoreboard aims to give states the kind of detailed, comparable data that the GII gives countries, so that each state can find and fix its own weak pillars.
NITI Aayog: Role and Mandate
NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) is the Union government's main policy think tank. It was set up on 1 January 2015 by a Union Cabinet resolution, replacing the Planning Commission. It is not created by the Constitution or by a law of Parliament. Unlike the old Planning Commission, it does not give money to states; it advises, builds data and promotes cooperative federalism (the Centre and states working together).
The scoreboard is a typical NITI Aayog tool: it does not fund research but uses data to nudge states to compete and cooperate, in line with its view that the Centre alone cannot build India's research base.
Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD): How a Country's Research Effort Is Measured
GERD is the total money spent on research and development inside a country in one year, by government, businesses, universities and non-profits together. It is usually shown as a share of GDP, so that countries of different sizes can be compared. It is the most common single measure of how seriously a country invests in research.
The scoreboard tracks research funding by central, state and private sources state by state. This helps show which states add to India's low GERD and where private research spending is missing.
- India S&T Scoreboard launched by NITI Aayog: 3 November 2026
- Built by NITI Aayog's Science and Technology Division
- Covers 11 priority research areas (including clean energy, AI, semiconductors, critical minerals, agriculture)
- India in Global Innovation Index: 38th (2026); 81st in 2015
- India: 3rd in scientific publications, 6th in patent filings
- Resident share of patent filings: up from 25.5% to 56%
- About 67% of research papers (2001-2020) from roughly 450 centrally funded institutions
- India's GERD: about 0.64% of GDP (2020-21)