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India is now ranked 52nd on the Global Innovation Index ( GII ) 2019, a jump of 5 places over last year, and 29 places in the last five years - up from 81 in 2015. The list continues to be topped by Switzerland while Israel finds its place in the top ten for the first time.India, whose 29-place move up the GII (From 81 in 2015) represents the biggest jump by any major economy, also remains 2nd among middle-income economies in terms of the quality of innovation.The latest GII ranking also shows that the country has constantly been maintaining its leadership position as the most innovative country in Central and South Asia region every year since 2011.Thanks to good performance in several critical economic indicators such as productivity growth and exports of services related to information and communication technologies, this year, India also grabbed the 15th spot in global companies’ R&D expenditures.Like India, economies at all levels of development are promoting innovation investments. To support this quest, and to promote vibrant innovation economies, the GII probes and quantifies the state of national innovation ecosystems - including their strengths and weaknesses - establishing a critical tool for policymakers across the globe."Facilitating entrepreneurship through innovation is a critical component under our vision of new India by 2022. India's consistent rise at the global innovation index is a testimony of its people's entrepreneurial prowess, said Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal at the launch of the Global Innovation Index 2019 in the capital.Innovation does not come new to India and we are seriously looking at increasing our spends at R&D, Goyal added. "Right from establishing hundreds of Atal Innovation Labs to Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan, this new approach and engagement adopted by the government has become the new hallmark of India as we move towards a more prosperous country," he said.Mentioning various initiatives taken by the government to spur growth and innovation in the country, Goyal added that the global launch of GII 2019 is a watershed event in country's history as its taking place for the first time in India. "The exercise duly recognises our innovation potential - our journey so far and the steps that we plan to take to enhance innovation landscape of the country," he said, adding that India will continue to take major strides in innovation and become a "beacon of progress to the world".Co-published by World intellectual property organisation (WIPO), Cornell University and INSEAD, the global innovation index (GII) is an annual ranking that quantifies the state of national innovation ecosystem across countries. Now in its 12th edition, the GII 2019 ranked 129 economies based on 80 wide ranging indicators. These included aspects ranging from traditional measurements like research and development investments and international patent and trademark applications to newer indicators including mobile-phone app creation and high-tech exports.WIPO Director General Francis Gurry , while highlighting that India has consistently outperformed on innovation relative to its GDP per capita, said, “India has consistently been ranked among the top countries on innovation parameters such as information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) Services Exports, (number of) graduates in science and engineering, the quality of universities and scientific publications, economy-wide investments, and creative goods exports.”In 2016, the DPIIT created a high-level task force on innovation to improve India's innovation system based on the GII metrics, and in 2017, the first consultative exercise was organised to address India specific data gaps in the GII to further improve its innovation performance.“The rise in the GII by economic powerhouses like China and India have transformed the geography of innovation and this reflects deliberate policy action to promote innovation. India also stands out in the GII ranking of the world's top science and technology clusters, with Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi featuring among global top 100 clusters,” Gurry added.