India was ranked Sixth most Innovative Country in GE's Second Annual Global Innovation Barometer

India was ranked the sixth most innovative country in the world in multinational conglomerate GE's second Annual Global Innovation Barometer published on 18 January 2012. The report is based on a survey of 2800 senior business executives in 22 countries including Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan. US topped the list.

The survey identified the top enablers for innovation in the country as talent (creative talent and people with technical expertise), financial support from public authorities and long-term support from investors.

When asked to identify the three countries they consider innovation champions, 65 per cent of the global respondents identified the US, followed by Germany (48 per cent), Japan (45 per cent), China (38 per cent), Korea (13 per cent) and India (12 per cent).
Only 12 per cent of the global respondents identified India as one of the top three innovation champions, compared to 23 per cent of Indian respondents.

As per the survey, in terms of sectors, energy, followed by healthcare, telecommunication and FMCG, were the areas with the most innovation-driven growth potential.

The report indicated a balanced' perception of the environment for innovation in the country. The respondents were observed  to be more satisfied with private investment and government support for innovation.

However, intellectual property protection and research and development partnerships with academic universities were cited as the key challenges to creating an innovation-friendly environment in the country.

Innovation in different sectors

36 per cent of the Indian respondents in the survey expected large business to drive most of the innovation over the next decade compared to 27 per cent in an earlier survey. 35 per cent of the Indian respondents believed small and medium enterprises would be the most innovative.

A resounding 83 per cent of the Indian respondents believed that innovation must meet local market requirements.

What India thinks

India respondents to the survey shared their global peers' view that great innovation would address human needs - rather than reaping profits. However only 78 per cent of them mentioned that great innovation brings value to society as a whole, compared to 84 per cent globally.

Furthermore, only 17 per cent of the Indian respondents agreed that a combination of players partnering together would drive innovation in the next decade, against the global average of 38 per cent.