The technology policy of the Government of India announced on 3 January 1983 has envisaged import of technology in selected areas where domestic capabilities have not been fully developed. The policy has as its objective, development of indigenous technology and efficient absorption and adaptation of imported technology appropriate to national priorities and resources. As regards acquisition of foreign technology, this policy is directed towards reducing the technological dependence in key areas. Advantage should be taken of technological development elsewhere through well-defined collaboration agreements in research and development. In the acquisition of technology, consideration will be given to the choice and source of technology, alternative means of acquiring it, its role in meeting a greatly felt need, selection and relevance of the products, costs and related conditions. A National Register on foreign collaborations will be developed to provide analytical inputs at various stages of technology acquisition.

Text of the Technology Policy, 1983

New Technology Policy on Anvil

The Government of India has evolved a comprehensive draft technology policy. According to this policy thrust will be related to:

(a) critical technologies regardless of whether they are available from abroad or not; and those aimed at new products and services and technological refinements over currently available technologies. Keeping in view the above directions, thrust areas will include:

1. energy related technologies including those for alternative fuels, renewable non-conventional sources and energy conservation technologies with due weightage to domestic/local availability basis;
2. technologies for conservation of land, water and energy resources and their integrated management for sustainable development leading to their ecologically balanced management and obtaining higher efficiencies in utilisation as well as those enabling avail- ability of newer sources of water;
3. local specific requirements of exclusive concern to our own milieu such as those based on natural resources and characteristically indigenous industries like those in small scale sector or based on traditional and household skills;
4. extensive and intensive mapping and exploration of natural resources as well as estimation of reserves for optimal utilisation of such resources to include beneficiation and new applications with special emphasis on integrated R & D in the mine, mineral, metal and material chain;
5. the necessity of protecting vast sections of people against natural hazards like earthquakes, cyclones, droughts and floods;
6. agriculture, allied services and agro-based industries including development of non-hazardous pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
7. technologies for provision and maintenance of health services, as well as leading to development of new drugs, medical devices and instrumentation, vaccines and their delivery systems;
8. areas which are relevant to a whole range of modem systems like materials development biotechnology, electronics and communication with emphasis on new product designs;
9. manufacturing sciences and technologies to improve industries, including elechanification as appropriate for higher productivity and upgradation of industrial process with due consideration for employment productivity and automation;
10. areas where continued imports are difficult to sustain eg. petroleum products and capital goods (e.g. instrumentation and equipment hardware);
11. emerging and as yet unexploited zones of resources like oceans; and
12. speedily enlarging areas or recognised strength like software. Specific short and long-term programmes will be drawn up in each of the above areas through detailed analysis including techno-economic assessments.

Role for research, development and engineering (RD&E)

Recognising the critical importance of innovative research in a far more prominent role for RD&E is envisaged in the decade ahead such as:

1. predominant role for RD&E teams in corporate and government sectors;
2. association of the relevant RD&E laboratory system(s) for technology acquisition particularly when these are imported since absorption, adaptation and upgradation are inescapable to obviate repetitive import of technologies;
3. institution of measures to upgrade the efficiency and productivity of the technologies for ensuring quality and enhancing competitiveness;
4. enlarged role of RD&E in our economy so that by the turn of the century the share of the right type of indigenous technology in total industrial production would rise markedly;
5. providing technology support and services for major export oriented areas like leather, textiles, jute, jewelry, handicrafts and agro products;
6. providing support for substantive value additional for export in areas which may emerge due to rapidly changing global mix of technologies; and
7. development of indigenous clean technologies which are urgently needed to preserve the environment and ensure the health and safety of our people.

It is also noted that RD&E could provide vital inputs for enabling small-scale industry to grow and successfully compete with large-scale industry. With emerging trends of new "scale neutral" technologies, it could decisively influence the growth of small-scale industry in future. In view of such a predominant role being envisaged for RD&E in the coming years, continual examining and reorienting the work programmes of the R&D institutions are necessary, based upon the emerging needs of the country and the areas where large foreign investments are taking place or substantial foreign technological inputs are needed. Such actions will be more and more market oriented and focused on applications. The linkages with industry, markets, customers and feedback for feed-forwarded research would become important and mechanisms to achieve these would be provided for. Significant RD&E contributions will be rewarded by according notable recognition to team efforts and by enhancement of allocations to the institutions concerned.

Resources for RD&E

Noting that the Government directly invests in RD&E as well as stimulates industrial investments by both the public and private sector industries and the total RD&E expenditure is currently about 0.9 per cent only of the gross national product), it will be the aim of this policy to enhance and to encourage investments in RD&E especially by industry so that the target for RD&E by 2000 can be set to reach two per cent of the gross national product. It is also recognised that the quality of results from RD&E and their applications are equally important.

It would be endeavoured that the private sector RD&E contributions would be significantly enhanced. Towards achieving target for R, D & E, Government will provide for incentives and other measures to stimulate contributions from the industry based on the annual turnover.