FORGING A SUSTAINABLE FORENSIC ECOSYSTEM IN INDIA: CORPORATE TAX INCENTIVES AND BULK PROCUREMENT AS CATALYSTS FOR ATTRACTING INVESTMENTS

Abstract

India’s criminal justice system is hobbled by a chronic shortage of forensic capacity manifested in laboratory backlogs approaching 0.8 million cases, vacancy rates above 40%, and severe urban-rural inequities. This paper reframes those deficits as investment opportunities rather than fiscal burdens and advances a three-pronged solution: creating decentralized PPP-anchored forensic laboratories through Build-Operate-Transfer and joint-venture models; deploying targeted corporate-tax measures super-deductions for R&D, tax holidays, accelerated depreciation, and customs relief to attract private capital and spur domestic manufacture of advanced forensic equipment; and instituting a centralized bulk-procurement regime that consolidates national demand, standardizes technology, and drives down unit costs. Based on comparative evidence from the UK, United States, and India’s own Passport Seva Programme, the study argues that the proposed architecture can eliminate DNA-level turnaround times, halve overall case backlogs within five years, and seed a competitive domestic forensic-technology sector. Fiscal models show that any upfront revenue shortfall from tax breaks is more than made up by stronger crime deterrence, faster case resolution, and fresh tax receipts from wider economic activity. By instituting a tightly governed PPP framework backed by NABL accreditation and a dedicated Central Procurement Office within the Home Affairs Ministry India can recast forensic science from a chronic bottleneck into a strategic growth driver, fortify due‐process protections, speed up convictions, and rebuild public trust in its rule‐of‐law system.