New Delhi: India is ranked fifth in the world in terms of number of think tanks. The country has a total of 192 think tanks. USA tops the list with 1830 think tanks followed by China at 429 and UK at 287. Germany is fourth in the list with 194 think tanks.
The data was compiled by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) at the University of Pennsylvania.
The facts were released in the Global GoTo Think Tank Index Report (GGTTI) 2014. The six Indian think tanks in the global top 150 list are the Centre for Civil Society (50th Rank) , Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses(IDSA,100), Indian Council for Research on International Economic Reforms (105th Rank) The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI, 107th Rank), Observer Research Foundation (ORF, 114th Rank) and Development Alternatives (129th Rank).
Seven Indian organizations have also made it to the list of top 80 thinktanks to watch out for. These are ORF (rank 14), IDSA (20), CCS (26), Vivekananda International Foundation (32), Centre for Policy Research (41), Gateway House (53) and Council on Energy, Environment and Water (71).
The annual report highlights the importance of the think tanks in the present era. It focuses on long term problems that the society and mankind will have to face unlike politicians who try to address the short term and immediate issues.
The think tanks with the help of NGOs can play a major role in bringing necessary changes in the society to ensure better living standard for mankind.
