India ranks 12 in global innovation index; Germany, Japan in lead

The overall environment in India is perceived as being conducive for innovation by business executives from 25 countries across the world, a report said.

According to the GE’s annual Global Innovation Barometer report, 55 percent of business executives from the 25 markets regard the Indian environment for innovation as strongly ‘innovation conducive’.

This puts the country in the 12th position of the country ranking based on this indicator. The perception is even higher among Indian executives as 58 percent of Indian business executives report that their country has a strongly innovation conducive environment overall.

According to the report, policy environments in Germany, US and Japan perceived as most innovation conducive by their peers. An overwhelming 85 percent of respondents believe that understanding the customers and anticipating market evolution is the key to innovating successfully in India.
Innovation is a strategic priority for business in India as 94 percent of respondents recognise and accept innovation as the urgent need for business, it said.

The society as a whole is supportive of innovation and there is an increasing appetite for innovation particularly among young generations, it added.

Indian businesses expect renewed support and incentives for innovation from policymakers, particularly regarding education. About 70 percent of respondents want to encourage a stronger entrepreneurial culture in the education system through stronger linkages between students and business savvy individuals.
The report further said the items connected to government support are more negatively evaluated than other items by the respondents. The GE Global Innovation Barometer was commissioned by GE and conducted by research and consulting firm, StrategyOne and covered 25 countries across the world.