Freeing up the Innovation Space

Context: The centre’s Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package provides opportunities for innovations thorough liberalisation in major sectors of economy.

Fruits of Structural Reforms :

• In Agriculture Sector

• Productivity: increased through the creation of national market for agriculture by removing market fragmentation, value capture by intermediaries and supply chain inefficiencies. 

• It thus ends the license permit raj in agriculture which stagnated productivity for long.

• Technology deployment: and digitalisation will lead to major transformation.

• In Defence Sector: 

• Corporatisation: through privatised ordnance factory board, increasing FDI limit to 74%, sectoral reforms in administration, planning and procurement. 

• Security Transformation: with the rise of drones, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

• Defence technology powerhouse: India can retain premier talent at home building high value export and providing well-paying jobs.

• In Science and Tech:

• Space Sector: Space-based services such as geospatial intelligence will create business opportunities in agriculture, aquaculture, tourism etc. 

• Missions like Anti-satellite weapon have induced credibility in the Indian space sector.

• Opening Nuclear medicine and nuclear irradiation technology: for private sector provide avenues for medical, agriculture and food industries.

• In startups:

• Liberalized IPO regime: which allows India-registered companies to go for IPOs on specified foreign stock exchanges. 

• New opportunities: will allow emerging general-purpose frontier technologies to be deployed in combination for addressing national challenges.

Way Forward:

• Innovation is the child of freedom and the parent of prosperity.  Enhanced economic freedom creates new possibilities for entrepreneurs.