Advancements in technology have been the major cause for the development of a country as well as human civilization. India, recognised globally for its scientific rigour and potential, has been contributing to the fields of science and technology since ancient times as evident from the discovery of zero to the research in particle physics. Continuing striving towards science and technology in ancient and medieval times, India has been able to gain pace in scientific discoveries and innovations after independence. Indian scientists have won the most prestigious Nobel prize in all three areas of Science.
Today, India is making progress in more advanced technology such as tokamak, neutrino, gravitational waves, scramjets, sending human missions into space, and emerging technologies.
At the dawn of the twentieth century, great strides were made by Indian scientists. The innate ability to perform creatively in science came to be backed by institutional setups and strong state support after the country’s independence in 1947.
India’s Contribution to Physics
Since the early 20th century, many physicists of India have contributed to Physics.
Jagdish Chandra Bose: He pioneered the study of radio and microwave optics, and electro-physiology. He was the first person to detect radio signals, thus demonstrating wireless communication for the first time. He invented the crescograph, through which he measured plant response to various stimuli and hypothesised that plants can feel pain, understand affection, etc.
CV Raman: He is known for his work on the scattering effect of light. His finding is called ‘Raman Effect’ for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1930.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar: He was an Indian-American astrophysicist awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics for his theoretical studies of the structure and evolution of the stars.
Satyendra Nath Bose: He was an Indian physicist specialising in quantum mechanics and provided a new derivation of Planck’s law. He is best known for providing the foundation of Bose-Einstein statistics and developing the theory of Bose-Einstein condensates.
Contribution to particle physics:
International Neutrino Observatory (INO): The INO project broadly aims to create an outstanding underground laboratory in India for non-accelerator-based high energy and nuclear physics research. CERN’s: Indian scientists at CERN contributed to the construction of a large hadron collider and other experiments such as ALICE and CMS experiment.
Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) – India: It is a mega-science project in Astronomy and the scientific goals of the project are in the area of fundamental physics.
India’s Contribution to Chemistry
Prafulla Chandra Ray: He was regarded as the ‘Father of Chemical Science in India and contributed to inorganic and organic nitrites and organic thio compounds.
Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar: He played an immense role in the constitution of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and did considerable work in applied and industrial chemistry. CNR Rao: He is well-known for his work in structural and solid-state chemistry. He has made contributions in chemical spectroscopy, surface chemistry, molecular structure and high-temperature superconductivity.

India’s Contribution to Life Sciences
Cell Biology: Work at the cellular level using modern molecular genetic tools started in India with the initiation of Molecular Biology at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Several model systems such as E. coli, fruit fly (Drosophila), and C. elegans, had been established, to significantly enhance knowledge of complex biological problems. The most outstanding contributions were the discovery of exotoxins and the atomic structural model of collagen. DNA Fingerprinting: DNA fingerprinting in India came into existence in 1988. Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology scientists developed the technique and made it available for use, making India the third country to develop its own DNA fingerprinting probe.
Famous personalities:
Har Gobind Khorana: He was a Nobel Prize-winning Indian American biochemist who showed the order of nucleotides in nucleic acids, which carry the genetic code of the cell and control the cell’s synthesis of proteins.
G.N Ramachandran: He contributed to molecular biophysics, particularly in the field of protein structure research. He created a three-dimensional picture of organic material which is known as the Ramachandran plot. His discovery of collagen’s triple helical structure was important for the understanding of peptide structure.
Venkataraman Ramakrishnan: He is a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who works on the atomic structure of the ribosome as well as the structure of chromatin and histone. He demonstrated how ribosomes react to various chemicals using a 3D technique.
Achievements of India in Space
India’s space journey started with the establishment of the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962, later renamed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1969. Key highlights of India’s space endeavours:
First Satellite: Aryabhata was India’s first satellite which was launched on April 19th, 1975 using Russia’s Kosmos-3M launch vehicle.
Launch Vehicles: Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 was India’s first experimental satellite launch vehicle, launched in 1980. Its success paved the way for advanced launch vehicle projects including the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), and LVM3.
Chandrayaan Missions:
Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first moon mission, launched in 2008.
Chandrayaan-2 was India’s first attempt to soft-land on the Moon which was launched in 2019 by GSLV MkIII-M1. With the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 in 2023, India became the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the lunar south pole.
Mars Orbiter Mission: MoM, India’s first interplanetary mission, was launched in 2013.
After Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency, India became the fourth space agency in the world to reach Mars orbit.It also made India the first country in the world to reach Martian orbit in its maiden attempt.
104 Satellites in a single flight: PSLV-C37 successfully launched the 714 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with 103 co-passenger satellites in 2017.
Aditya-L1 Mission: In September 2023 India launched the Aditya-L1 mission, the first space-based Indian mission to study the Sun. Gaganyaan: The Gaganyaan Mission is an ongoing project in India to send a three-person crew to a 400 km Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD): It is one of ISRO’s most technologically challenging projects aimed at developing critical technologies for a fully reusable launch vehicle to enable low-cost access to space.
Cryogenic Technology: In 2003, the Indian space agency successfully tested its first cryogenic engine. India is now one of only six countries to have developed their own cryogenic engines.
Scramjet Engines: A scramjet engine is an improvement over the ramjet engine as it efficiently operates at hypersonic speeds and allows supersonic combustion.