Global R&D spending, after witnessing a decline in fiscal 2010, has grown by 8.2 per cent in FY2011, according to a Zinnov study.
India’s prominence as an R&D hub is growing with the likes of IBM, SAP, Oracle and others setting up R&D centres and currently, 30 per cent of the top 1000 R&D spenders across verticals have a presence here. This growth has been primarily driven by organisations in the semiconductor, industrial and consumer hardware and electrical and electronic sectors.
Talent pool
A key fact highlighted by the report is the total installed talent pool of 2.2 lakh people in MNC subsidiaries in India and these MNCs have spent $7-7.5 billion on the headcount in India in FY2011 alone.
The study also found that the opportunity areas for India to attract R&D investment span over 13 sectors with software being the most invested in sector. Mr Sidhant Rastogi, Director - Globalisation Advisory, Zinnov, said: “The sentiment on the role of R&D in driving the future continues to remain positive across geographies, supported by the significant increase in R&D spending in FY2011. Global R&D investments have grown by 8.2 per cent as compared to the previous fiscal.”
R&D spenders
Of the top 1,000 R&D spenders globally, the industrial sector led with 14.6 per cent of the total R&D spend. software/Internet and automotive constituted 9.4 per cent each, while semiconductor and electrical/electronic equipment contributed 8.6 per cent and 8.3 per cent of R&D spends.
Small and medium companies are investing in R&D and while EU leads with a 44 per cent contribution, APAC and Japan together contribute 34 per cent, the study said.