Investor and author Manoj Arora Monday took a swipe at India’s commitment to deep tech and innovation, posting a sarcastic remark on X (formerly Twitter) about the country’s low research and development (R&D) spending.

“Countries like the US, Japan, Israel etc invest 4-6% of their annual GDP in R&D (call it deep tech or any name). We spend 0.7%! This additional Rs 10k Cr will add another 0.03% to this 0.7% kitty, making it 0.73%. Wow! Revolutionary,” Arora wrote, highlighting the stark disparity in R&D spending between India and leading global innovation hubs.

The post comes in the wake of recent government and public discussions about the need for Indian startups to shift from consumer tech to deeper innovation — in areas like artificial intelligence, space, biotechnology, and materials science. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal recently urged startup founders to “aim higher” and benchmark themselves against global standards, calling out the sector’s focus on “lifestyle apps” instead of future-focused deep tech.

While Arora did not mention Goyal directly, his post is widely seen as a critique of the lip service paid to deep tech ambitions without commensurate public investment. According to the Economic Survey 2022–23, India’s R&D expenditure has hovered around 0.7% of GDP for years — among the lowest for major economies. In contrast, Israel spends around 5.6%, South Korea over 4.8%, and the US about 3.5%.

Even an infusion of Rs 10,000 crore (around $1.2 billion), as referenced in Arora’s post, would barely move the needle on the percentage of GDP spent on R&D — highlighting how far India must go to match its innovation aspirations with investment.

The post adds to a growing chorus of voices — including startup founders and policy commentators — calling for not just private sector hustle, but also structural support in the form of patient capital, research-linked university reform, lesser bureaucratic hurdles and long-term national vision for tech-led growth.