A Quiet Imbalance in India’s Research Ecosystem

India’s scientific infrastructure has expanded impressively-new laboratories, advanced instruments, and data facilities now anchor universities across the country. Yet, beneath this visible progress lies an invisible loss. A vast share of India’s research software-MATLAB, ANSYS, COMSOL, SolidWorks, Origin, SPSS, and many others-sits under-used, locked within single laboratories or departments.

Each year, institutions and funding bodies invest heavily in analytical and simulation tools that too often remain confined to a narrow circle of users. The result is duplication, isolation, and a silent erosion of digital capital. What should serve as a shared research backbone instead becomes an isolated expense. The real casualty is not money-it is collaboration.