The investor and the author Manoj Arara on Monday pledged to India’s commitment to technology and deep innovation, publishing a sarcastic observation on X (before Twitter) on low research and development (R&D) expenses in the country.

“Countries like the United States, Japan, Israel, etc., invest 4-6% of their annual R&D GDP (we call it deep or any name). We have 0.7%!

The post comes as a result of recent public and government discussions on the need for Indian startups to move from consumer technology to deeper innovation, in areas such as artificial intelligence, space, biotechnology and material science. The Union Minister of Commerce, Pyush Goyal, recently urged Startup founders to “sign up” and refer to world rules, paying attention to the sector’s focus on “life applications” instead of the future technology.

Although Arara did not mention Goyal directly, its publication is widely considered as a critique of the lip service paid for deep technology ambitions without public investments. According to the 2022-23 economic survey, India’s R&D spending has passed around 0.7% of GDP for years, among the lowest of the main economies. In contrast, Israel spends about 5.6%, South Korea more than 4.8%and the United States about 3.5%.

Even an infusion of 10,000 RS crores (about $ 1.2 billion), as referred to in Araora’s publication, would hardly move the needle for the R&D spent percentage, emphasizing the extent to which India has to reach India to equalize its innovation aspirations with investment.

The post adds to a growing choir of voices, including politics founders and commentators, who ask not only the private sector, but also the structural support in the form of patient capital, a university reform related to research, minor bureaucratic obstacles and a long -term national vision for technology -led growth.