Indian companies spent Rs 651.3 trillion in the last decade, but less than one per cent of that money went on research and development (R&D). As a share of net sales, spending on R&D was 0.3 per cent in the Financial Year 2022-23 (FY23). It was 0.4 per cent in FY19.
This analysis covers 445 S&P BSE 500 companies with uniform data across years. (Chart 1)
Of the total R&D expenditure companies make, most goes on recurring expenses like salaries, wages, and maintenance. Recurring comprised little more than 80 per cent of companies' R&D expense in