ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews a successful innovation system (IS) and a knowledge society in India. India today presents all essential elements of a national or sectoral innovation system (SIS) that help advance the competitiveness of enterprises in an economy to create products and processes of global as well as local relevance. The methodology adopted for the review is based on collection from published sources and presentation of relevant information on the three important pillars of the national innovation system (NIS). The pillars are government policies and institutions, research and educational institutions, and industry. The process of industrialization and development of the entrepreneurial class transformed from the erstwhile merchant class in India began after the First World War when the British inflow of investment diminished considerably. It is now well-known that India was the world's largest economy in the first millennium producing a third of global gross domestic product (GDP).
