Why India can’t win Nobel prizes without questioning the ‘competent authority’
The author questions why India, despite its large intellectual workforce, struggles to produce Nobel-level scientific breakthroughs within its own institutions. The piece argues that a culture of unquestioning authority and a lack of original research environments hinder scientific innovation.
Why it matters
It addresses systemic issues in India's higher education and research sectors that may be preventing the country from becoming a global leader in scientific discovery.
Why India can’t win Nobel prizes without questioning the ‘competent authority’ left Why has a country of India’s size, intellectual inheritance, and scientific workforce produced so few Nobel laureates working within its own institutions? | iStock/Getty Images https://th-i.thgim.com/public/incoming/12yxgx/article71603862.ece/alternates/FREE_1200/iStock-2271138344.jpg Anton Skripachev Moscow December 20 2026, Nobel Prize, scientist's glasses and the Nobel Prize for a scientific book. The concept. High quality photo I happened to have my philosophy lecture with around 280 engineering undergraduates at IIT Gandhinagar on August 18, 2026, the day the IIT system and IIT Kharagpur marked 75 years. I asked students a question I had been grappling with for some time: could you name any IIT student, faculty member, or alumnus whose original social, scientific, or technological contribution had changed the lives of a substantial share of India’s population? The class fell silent for a few minutes.
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