Why do Indian companies spend so little on R&D, preferring to copy technology from around the world instead?

Really, many/most developing nations start out with low-tech mass production of goods, moving to high-tech mass production of goods, then to refinements of high tech goods, and finally design of them as well. Look at Japan. In 1960--low quality, poorly made goods designed elsewhere. Look at America--started its export trade by mass producing cloth fabrics based on designs stolen from the Brits. Look at China--even now it's famous for goods that aren't built to last for the most part. And its level of innovation is still low. That said, both China and India have several situations Japan and America didn't have hundreds of millions of peasants in addition to their middle classes. Those peasants, through no fault of their own, drag down the economy--and in India's case, it's hard to build a democracy when you have such a high level of functional illiteracy. India is also burdened by the common third world problem of a corrupt government bureaucracy where a business has to bribe many different officials to make anything happen--and the infrastructure is creaky at best, requiring every business to provide infrastructural aspects that businesses in advanced countries can get from government. Comparing China's autocracy with India's democracy you still see high levels of bureaucratic corruption in both cases, which makes me thing that the formal structure of government isn't what makes the difference. You could argue that India would most benefit right now from adopting Singapore's autocracy along with the business acumen of that city state's founder, Lee Kwan Yu (sp?). He drove Singapore from low-profit textile manufacture to leading high tech center with innovation (though Singaporeans are now chafing under the tight rules they live under). But you probably can't get there from here. India also has the constant distraction of Pakistan next door. I don't have a dog in that fight personally but it seems like Pakistan has much worse problems than India and its military government-within-the-government is obsessed with prepping for war with India and blaming all of Pakistan's problems on India and America, which India can't ignore (though thanks to both countries for those great videos of the changing of the guard daily ceremony at the border--YouTube gold). My biggest fear for India is that democracy+many illiterate voters --> susceptibility to demagogues and demagogic policymaking, which we've seen in India's Hindu fundamentalist movement, which appears just as toxic as America's Christian fundamentalist movement. And as long as India's difficulties with promoting truly profitable business continue, India will continue exporting its best and brightest to countries with more favorable business environments. Here in Silicon Valley we have benefitted greatly from getting so many of your innovators, along with lots of ordinary but highly skilled technical workers. Side benefit is that everyone in Silicon Valley gets to enjoy delicious, authentic Indian food, since local Indian restaurants have to appeal to immigrants from India, which keeps the quality high. Thanks, India.

This is because they wanna make the immediate profit and they are nor worried about the future..So they dont spend much money on their R&D and they only concentrate on production and duplication

The startup ecosystem in India is still in its early stage when it comes to product based startups.Copying ensures that the business model is already tested by somebody else and so it will be an easier risk to take.Indians are by mentality more risk-averse compared to their western counterparts.R&D is considered a long term investment and the trend here is more about quick and fast money and growth.I hope the situation changes in the next few years.

They are concerned about quick money making and believe in getting it from outside rather using it's own resource to use his brain. People generally anti the ones who do much of R&D as they take it as a waste of time and don't look at the future aspect of it. This is the general mentality of people working in Indian firms. They are happy looking at themselves, but there are some companies who has started it and was initially slow but has got the right track now.

R&D is a part of knowledge based economy. We are still primarily a products based economy and not knowledge based one. And the technology for products can be taken by copying.