As India approaches another Union Budget, much of the public debate will focus on fiscal consolidation, capital expenditure, and headline growth projections. These discussions matter. But beneath them lies a more structural question that will shape India’s competitiveness over the next decade: whether the Budget meaningfully strengthens science-based, technology-led, innovation-driven MSMEs that convert knowledge into productivity, jobs, and exports.
India’s next phase of growth will be defined less by scale and more by capability. MSMEs that embed engineering, artificial intelligence, immersive technologies, and applied science into real-world solutions are already reshaping critical sectors, particularly healthcare, manufacturing, education, and logistics. Though modest in size, these enterprises play an outsized role in building economic depth.
At the micro level, innovation-led MSMEs create high-quality employment and resilient local ecosystems. Unlike traditional enterprises that depend primarily on cost arbitrage, science-driven firms require skilled professionals, continuous upskilling, and interdisciplinary problem solving. In healthcare education, for instance, the integration of AI and virtual reality is enabling medical students and professionals to train in safe, simulated environments, improving clinical decision-making, procedural accuracy, and patient safety. This not only raises the quality of medical education but also creates a new generation of skilled technologists, clinicians, and educators.
At the macro level, technology-driven MSMEs strengthen India’s health and human capital infrastructure. Medical education remains a critical bottleneck in healthcare outcomes, with variations in training quality across institutions and regions. AI and VR-based simulation platforms can help standardise learning, bridge faculty shortages, and accelerate skill acquisition at scale. When deployed through public institutions and aligned with national skilling and health missions, these technologies can improve workforce readiness while reducing systemic costs.
Globally, science-led MSMEs are becoming central to India’s competitiveness in emerging value chains. As healthcare systems worldwide grapple with workforce shortages and rising costs, demand for scalable, technology-enabled training and education solutions is increasing. Indian enterprises that build credible, compliant, and clinically validated AI and VR platforms are well positioned to serve global markets. However, global competitiveness requires patient capital, regulatory clarity, and support for validation and export readiness.
This is where the upcoming Budget becomes critical. Three interventions deserve priority. First, expanding access to long-term finance for R&D-intensive MSMEs, including blended finance mechanisms and innovation-linked credit guarantees. AI and VR development cycles are capital-intensive and longer than conventional product cycles. Second, aligning public procurement and reimbursement frameworks to reward outcomes, quality, and indigenous innovation rather than lowest-cost delivery alone. In healthcare education and training, government demand signals can catalyse adoption at scale. Third, strengthening industry–academia collaboration through applied research grants, shared simulation infrastructure, and faster pathways from pilot projects to institutional deployment.
Equally important is treating innovation-led MSMEs as partners in national missions rather than downstream vendors. Whether it is upgrading medical education, improving healthcare delivery, or expanding skilling programs, early engagement with technology creators leads to better policy design and more effective implementation. This requires coordination across ministries, faster regulatory pathways, and a willingness to experiment responsibly.
India’s demographic dividend cannot be realised without a parallel investment in skills, quality education, and technology adoption. AI and VR in healthcare education represent a practical, scalable solution to improve learning outcomes, reduce variability, and prepare a future-ready medical workforce. Science-driven MSMEs sit at the heart of this transition.
The forthcoming budget is therefore not just a fiscal exercise. It is a strategic signal. Prioritising innovation-led MSMEs, particularly those deploying AI and immersive technologies in critical sectors like healthcare education, will strengthen India’s socio-economic growth at the local level, enhance national productivity, and position the country as a global provider of advanced, high-impact solutions.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication. |
