Any increase in India's science budget for 2012–13 is likely to be wiped out by a 5–10% rise in the cost of research commodities, owing to the country's high rate of inflation (Nature 483, 384; 2012). Neither will the modest extra funding tackle the glut of unemployed science PhD graduates (for example, around 60% of female science PhDs do not have a research position).

The reasons for this situation are not just economic. In my opinion, India's policy-makers are failing to recognize scientists' achievements. In May last year, for example, environment minister Jairam Ramesh intimated that India's elite institutions, which include the Indian Institutes of Technology and of Management, fall short of world-class standards; the head of the prime minister's scientific advisory council, C. N. R. Rao, seems to agree with this view (see go.nature.com/snnbbt).

Yet India is ranked 11th in the world by number of publications and 16th on the basis of total citations during the past 10 years. Many of these publications were in leading international journals. Instead of squandering this talent, the government should provide the incentive and the means for the nation to fulfil its potential.