Vijay Garg
It has been 95 years since any scientist working in India won a Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry, or Medicine. The last such achievement was in 1930, when C.V. Raman received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Raman Effect. Since then, no scientist working in India has received this global recognition.
Later, Hargobind Khurana (1968, Medicine), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1983, Physics), and Venkataraman Ramakrishnan (2009, Chemistry) also won Nobel Prizes, but they were all working abroad at the time and were not Indian citizens.
According to several studies and reports, there are deep-rooted reasons why Indian scientists have struggled to achieve Nobel-level breakthroughs. Basic research does not get enough importance, government funding remains low, and bureaucratic red tape slows progress. The private sector has limited investment in research and innovation. In universities, research infrastructure and mentorship are weak, and the number of researchers per million people is five times lower than the global average.
This means that the pool of scientists capable of producing world-class, Nobel-worthy research remains very small. Many Indian scientists have been nominated for the Nobel Prize but never received it. Meghnad Saha, Homi Bhabha, and Satyendra Nath Bose were nominated in physics. G.N. Ramachandran and T. Seshadri were nominated in chemistry, and Upendranath Brahmachari in medicine.
Several names in Indian science—Jagadish Chandra Bose, K.S. Krishnan, and E.C.G. Sudarshan—are often cited as being unfairly overlooked by the Nobel Committee. Sudarshan, for instance, was denied the Nobel twice, in 1979 and 2005, despite his groundbreaking work in quantum optics. C.N.R. Rao, too, is considered among those whose lifetime contributions to chemistry deserved the honour.
Globally, the Nobel Prizes in science remain dominated by researchers from the United States and Europe. Outside these regions, only nine countries have produced Nobel laureates in science. Among Asian nations, Japan leads with 21 Nobel Prizes, a result of its strong scientific infrastructure and consistent government investment in research.
In contrast, India continues to struggle with underfunded laboratories, outdated facilities, and a lack of institutional support. The issue is not with the talent but with the ecosystem. Without a culture that values research, innovation, and long-term scientific inquiry, even the brightest minds cannot achieve their full potential.
If India hopes to see another Nobel laureate in science, it must invest heavily in basic research, university-based innovation, and scientific freedom. Recognition will follow only when the environment supports curiosity, experimentation, and sustained inquiry.
The next Nobel Prize for an Indian scientist will depend not just on individual brilliance but on whether India as a nation chooses to nurture and value science.
(Vijay Garg
Retired Principal, Educational Columnist, Eminent Educationist
Street Kour Chand MHR, Malout, Punjab)
