Gujarat's R&D push: incentives, a research park, and a slipping investor rank

"By offering a common ecosystem with robust digital connectivity, sustainability-oriented infrastructure and proximity to industrial clusters, the proposed R&D park will strengthen Gujarat's innovation capacity," the policy document states.

Mamta Verma, Additional Chief Secretary for the Industries and Mines Department, told Live Mint the government is not looking at this as just an industrial policy. "Our focus is not just developing physical infrastructure but to achieve a holistic social development of the state," she said.

The R&D push comes at a time when Gujarat's standing as a destination for new stock market investors has slipped. The state ranked third in India for new investor additions through the end of 2025 but fell to ninth place in 2026, according to an NSE report. Gujarat added 51,700 new investors in May, the lowest monthly figure since April 2025. The state government attributed the slowdown to market volatility, foreign investor selling, and geopolitical tensions.

The policy aims to reverse that trend by attracting high-value technology investments. Whether the incentives are enough to pull R&D spending away from established hubs like Bengaluru and Hyderabad will depend on execution speed and the quality of the shared infrastructure the research park delivers.