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State governments can foster an ecosystem of research and development (R&D) and reduce the amount of Indian talent migrating abroad by opening up space for foreign universities, said former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan.
‘Attract foreign unis’
“In addition to enhancing the quality of local talent, there is also an idea of bringing foreign universities, their R&D resources and their upgradation of talent and that would be a way we can keep some of our home-grown talent here because they don’t need to migrate abroad to do an undergraduate course or masters or a PhD,” Rajan said.
Also see: Only a handful of cryptocurrencies that exist today likely to survive: Raghuram Rajan
He was addressing a virtual conference on ‘R&D as an Engine of Growth of Tamil Nadu’ organised by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) on Wednesday.
New opportunities
“Now that China is increasingly closing itself to the West, there is an opportunity to create space for foreign universities. Opening a license or attracting a Stanford, a MIT or a Cal Tech to come here, or at least set an outpost, would be very useful and a source of value-addition,” he said.
Rajan, a member of the Economic Advisory Council of Tamil Nadu Government, said that States should not limit themselves to the focus areas of R&D and instead should be open to a variety of possibilities.
Also see: We must not mimic China’s authoritarian path: Raghuram Rajan
“The scope for R&D need not just be in the manufacturing sector. We could do deep learning, AI and these areas may not require that much upgrading relative to where we are. We could reach frontiers in these areas as opposed to pure manufacturing,” Rajan said.
He added that there are many other areas such as medtech and agritech that could benefit from R&D and it is important for States to keep an open mind.
Getting back the diaspora
In Tamil Nadu context, Rajan said one of the things that the State can think of is how to get back the diaspora.
“This is something that the Chinese have been thinking very carefully about,” he added.
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