NEWS TODAY 12.01.2026

 

Universities rush to file patents for rankings, few acquire commercial value

Universities rush to file patents for rankings, few acquire commercial value 

Experts urge dismantling siloed research ecosystem to accelerate lab-tomarket transition of technologies 

Divyansh.Kumar@timesofindia.com 12.01.2026

Indian universities are producing an impressive volume of patents, yet most innovations never leave the labs to be used as a valuable product in market or industry. Form-27 (statement of working) submitted at the Indian Patent Office (IPO) has noticed a dip in the commercially viable patents, 16,000 to just 560 in the past five years. Experts highlight that roughly 96% of patents filed have been deemed commercially unviable. 

Indian universities file patents that look remarkable on paper but do not find value in the industry. For education leaders, policymakers, and researchers, the number of patents filed are solely for getting a place in international and Indian ranking frameworks. “A patent is often treated as the finish line, while it is only a milestone in a long journey of engineering, validation, manufacturability, standards, user behaviour, and cost,” says Prof V Ramgopal Rao, group vicechancellor, BITS Pilani and former director, IIT Delhi. The problem is not solely related to restricted funding but largely associated with identifying the market value. “We have built an academic system that celebrates novelty on paper, but does not equally reward the hard, iterative, sometimes messy work of translation,”he says. 

Globally, only about 5-10% of patents are successfully commercialised. At Indian campuses the picture is hardly better. NIT Rourkela (NIT-R), which secured 13th position in the Engineering category in 2025 NIRF rankings, reports a conversion rate of just 1015%, meaning roughly nine out of every ten campus patents do not reach the market. Prof Swadesh Kumar Pratihar, dean  (Sponsored Research), NIT-R, cites a lack of translational research as the primary reason. “The lack of translational research at an institute forces the patent to become just a novel idea or a proof-of-concept and doesn’t contain the commercialisation blueprint. To turn that idea into a technology, we need to integrate multiple disciplines,” adds Prof Pratihar. There is a surge in patent filings from private universities, which sometimes exceeds the combined output of all IITs. 

The disconnect between filings and utility, experts argue, is driven by structural and cultural factors. One reason is incentive design. Rankings and accreditation frameworks such as NIRF and NAAC currently reward patent counts and similar outputs — a system that some HEIs appear to exploit. “NIRF has a specific category for ‘Innovation’ where patents carry a much higher weightage. This creates a powerful incentive for universities to file as many patents as possible to climb the rankings, rather than focusing on impactful, marketable projects,” says Achal Agrawal, data scientist and founder, Indian Research Watch. Highlighting the absurdity of the current surge in patent filings, Agrawal adds, “Last year, close to one lakh patents were approved, up from 30,000 in previous years.” Valley of Death The core of the crisis lies in the ‘finish line’ mentality. Many HEIs treat a patent grant as the end of the journey, rewarding faculty for the filing while ignoring the hard, iterative engineering required to turn IP into a product. Most Indian academic research stalls at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 or 4 (Proof of Concept). Industry, however, only begins to take interest at TRL 7 or 8 (Operational Demonstration). This ‘Valley of Death’ is where inventions go to die given the territorial nature of Indian labs. 

“Traditionally, research in India has been siloed. Successful commercialisation of a patent requires to bring together different minds. The approach of integrating engineering, business, and design needs to be institutionalised in our HEIs,” adds Prof Pratihar. NIT-R is attempting to break that mould with a centralised equipment booking system giving first-year students and senior researchers equal access to high-end tools. Prof Rao warns that celebration of filings without follow-through turns patents into paperwork rather than pathways. “What is missing is milestone-linked translational funding that pays for iteration, testing, product engineering, and field pilots, not just the first prototype,” he adds. Agrawal stresses that India loses many of its brightest researchers to industry because academic salaries and conditions for PhDs remain uncompetitive. “Companies prefer their own employees’ research because they perceive a skill gap in academic labs,” he says, adding, “In Europe, companies often fund PhDs directly, creating immediate bridges between lab and market. Such models are worth emulation.

NEWS TODAY 11.01.2026

 

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MCC moves to lower qualifying percentile

 MCC moves to lower qualifying percentile

 PG MEDICAL INTAKE HALTED 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  11.01.2026

Ahmedabad : Round 3 of PG medical counselling for 2025 has been put on hold as the medical counselling committee (MCC) moves to revise the qualifying percentile. The MCC has instructed all state medical education departments and vice chancellors to halt third-round proceedings until a revised schedule is officially released, a move that makes it unlikely for the process to commence before Jan 15.

The delay comes at a time when Gujarat has 635 vacant PG medical seats. This includes 163 seats left empty due to non-reporting by candidates allotted seats. Additionally, 354 seats were already vacant, and approval was recently granted for 118 new PG seats. 

The MCC clarified that the all-India quota and state-level schedules will only be uploaded once the authority approves the new eligibility criteria. Additionally, the Union health ministry is conducting hearings until Jan 10 regarding appeals from state-run colleges for even more PG seats. Sources suggest that if the qualifying percentile is lowered, the Round 3 process may restart entirely to allow newly eligible candidates to apply

New pension scheme comes into effect from Jan 1 for TN govt staff

New pension scheme comes into effect from Jan 1 for TN govt staff 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK   Chennai  11.01.2026

A week after chief minister M K Stalin announced pension reform to end the Jacttogeo’s two-decades-old protest, Tamil Nadu govt issued an order detailing the rollout of the TN Assured Pension Scheme (TAPS). The scheme, effective from Jan 1, will be mandatory for all govt employees who entered service from the beginning of this year. It will also allow more than six lakh govt employees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), the option to choose between TAPS benefits and those available under the CPS at the time of retirement. 

Those opting for TAPS will be allowed to commute a portion of their pension. It was, however, subject to conditions. “The TAPS will become operational after the notification of rules and completion of the necessary statutory and accounting requirements,” additional chief secretary T Udhayachandran said in the order dated Jan 9, giving statutory backing to CM’s announcement. 

The govt, after carefully examining the recommendations of the Gangandeep Singh-led committee, decided to introduce TAPS, keeping in mind the welfare and expectations of govt employees, the state’s overall financial position, and its responsibility to ensure uninterrupted payment of salaries and pensions to serving employees and pensioners in the long term, the order said. 

Meanwhile, calling it a political move made with the assembly elections in mind, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami described TAPS as nothing but “old wine in a new bottle”. PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss termed the TAPS as fraudulent, claiming it won't be implemented before DMK's term ends. 

1/11/26, 6:38 AM Times of India ePaper chennai - Read Today’s English News Paper Online https://epaper.indiatimes.com/timesepaper/publication-the-times-of-india,city-chennai.cms 1/2 1/11/26, 6:38 AM Times of India ePaper chennai - Read Today’s English News Paper Online