The newly set up JSW Chair in Innovation and Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad, (IIM-A) looks to collaborate with the industry and innovators to address the gap in R&D spend by corporates and strike a balance with the technology purchase.

After delivering his first talk as the Chair Professor, IIM-A faculty Rakesh Basant said that the Chair, funded by JSW Steel, would work towards qualitative transformation in industrial research and innovation in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Pune.

Basant highlighted the gap in the R&D spend by private sector companies thereby leading to limitations in the innovations.

“This prompts more inclination towards technology purchase. Currently, Indian companies’ investments for R&D do not exceed more than 1 per cent of their total revenues. The same is 6-7 per cent in the case of pharma companies,” he said after delivering a talk on ‘Exploring Linkages between Innovation and Public Policy: Challenges and Opportunities’ at the IIM-A campus on Tuesday.

Basant further mentioned that the Chair would work towards creating a platform for advocacy and suggestions for modifications in the existing policies to encourage innovation and R&D.

“IIM-A is grateful to JSW for establishing the chair. The interaction of these two fields - innovation and public policy - offers enormous opportunities for meaningful and policy-relevant research and teaching,” said IIM-A director Ashish Nanda.

Last year in July, JSW Steel had made a financial contribution upwards of ₹50 crore for setting up a School of Public Policy at IIMA. This Chair is in addition to their earlier contribution.

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