India is not short of ideas. Every year, universities produce thousands of engineers and researchers, laboratories generate studies, and start-ups promise new solutions in healthcare, technology and sustainability. Yet a basic question continues to surface: if India produces so much talent and research, why do so few ideas become products that people actually use? Somewhere between discovery and real-world application, innovation often loses momentum.
Experts often describe this gap as the “valley of death”, the difficult space between research and practical use where many promising ideas struggle to move ahead. A concep t may work inside a laboratory or during early testing, but turning it into something usable requires money, partnerships, testing, industry support and time. That is often where things slow down. According to Gur ucharan Gollerkeri, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer of Ramaiah Institute of Science and Management (RISM), India’s biggest problem is not a shortage of ideas but a shortage of systems that help ideas move from laboratories into society.
“India does not suffer from a shortage of ideas,” he says, arguing that too many innovations stop midway between discovery and impact. At the centre of this issue is something researchers call the Technology Readiness Level or TRL framework. In simple terms, it measures how close a scientific idea is to becoming a usable product. Early-stage research may show promise, but moving from theory to testing, validation and large-scale use is a much harder process. Gollerkeri believes India performs reasonably well in the early stages of research but struggles when ideas need to move beyond experiments and into practical use.
Many projects remain confined to papers, laboratories or early prototypes without ever reaching ordinary people. Why does this matter? Because countries are no longer competing only through ideas. They are competing through what they can build from those ideas. Whether it is artificial intelligence, biotechnology, climate technology or medical innovation, scientific breakthroughs matter only when they move beyond laboratories and begin solving real problems. India’s innovation ecosystem has certainly expanded over the years. Start-up culture has grown, incubators have multiplied and research conversations have become more visible.
But there is still debate about whether universities and industries are working closely enough to help ideas survive the difficult middle stage between research and market use. For institutions trying to rethink education, this challenge is becoming increasingly important. At RISM, the focus is on what is known as translational research, an approach that aims to move ideas step by step from the laboratory to prototypes, then testing, and finally practical use. The goal is not simply academic output but research that has a visible impact outside journals and classrooms. That also means changing the way students learn. Closer industry links, project-based learning, practical problem-solving and research tied to real situations are increasingly being seen as ways to reduce the gap between classroom knowledge and practical outcomes.
Still, the larger question remains. Can India create an environment where good ideas survive long enough to matter? For a country that wants to become a leader in science and technology, the challenge may no longer be creating knowledge. The harder task is making sure that knowledge reaches people’s everyday lives.