In a nutshell, even before India attained Independence in 1947, the political leadership in India not only realized the significance of basic and applied research as critical resources in achieving rapid economic and socio-cultural transformation but also consciously built universities and research institutes for pursuing scientific research. The political leadership in India, which was engaged in the freedom struggle during the first half of the 20 th century, articulated the contours of the modern nation-state in India, and the role of modern science and technology in the process of nation building. Especially during the interwar period, the political leadership in India not only saw the need to achieve freedom from colonial rule but also recognized the need for building a blueprint for a prospective independent India. An examination of the debates on the interaction between science, technology and society during the interwar period provides insights into the process of policy-making in the post-colonial era. After achieving Independence, the Government of India, under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, adopted a Socialist model of society in 1952, and the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 placed public sector industrial undertakings in commanding heights in several key sectors such as iron and steel, railways, ship building, and telecommunications. Further, the government created and/or expanded some mission-mode public R&D institutions in the areas of: space, nuclear, defense; and made allocations of substantial funding to the mission-mode R&D institutions. In addition, SPR, 1958 ignored these aspects pertaining to technology, which led to the Technology Policy Statement (TPS) formulated in 1983. The basic objectives of TPS centered round the development of indigenous technology and efficient absorption and adaptation of imported technology appropriate to national priorities and resources. Expansion of the existing universities and establishment of new universities led to a steady growth of human resources in science and technology since Independence. Initially, to offset the inadequacies in technology development within India, the Government of India encouraged imports of technology and later import-substitution as important strategies for technological development.

In the 1980s, under the policy of export-led growth, technology imports were further liberalized. The manufacturing industry did not have either compulsion or incentive to approach the R&D institutions like the universities and mission-oriented R&D institutions like the laboratories of CSIR for consultation and collaborative research. These policies have inhibited collaborative interaction between the industry and academia for a very long time.