The list of the 10 richest Indian billionaires reads like a table of resources - fortunes made on oil, coal, steel, aluminium and cement. There is a vaccine manufacturer and another that makes generic drugs. The only technology company that derives its revenues from outsourced business processes. Rounding off the above list are an investor-turned-retailer and a real estate developer. The country's biggest piles of wealth have grown in commodity businesses where trading acumen takes precedence over innovation. Down the wealth ladder, the evidence becomes even more compelling that ideas chase capital in the country, although most Indians agree that they are living in an era in which intellectual property (IP) rules the world.

This is not an inconsistency in an economy short on capital, but its innovation quotient should rise as capital deprivation eases. The most successful tycoons in the country are among the biggest players in their game globally because scale is vital to any commodity business. They need to be innovative to keep their place, it's just that they deal with mature technologies where the marginal cost of innovation is high. This creates, along with capital, a moat for market leaders in resource businesses. The incentive to diversify is consequently low, contributing to slow innovation overall. The way India is building its capital has a bearing on how competitive its economy is.

Extending the notion of ideas chasing capital, India also exports a large slice of its innovation to overseas markets in the form of IP. Here, the Indian contribution to cutting-edge research is globally acknowledged. Harnessing it at home requires capital to flow to sunrise sectors. If the market is inefficient, GoI must step in. But GoI's role is restricted to signalling, which may not be sufficient. Ultimately, the market must correct itself, but it raises the chicken-and-egg question: India needs capital to innovate and innovation to build capital.