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Technology Policy
1983
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:
- energy related technologies
including those for alternative fuels,
renewable non-conventional sources and energy conservation technologies
with due weightage to domestic/local
availability basis;
- 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;
- 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;
- 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;
- the necessity of
protecting vast sections of
people against natural hazards like
earthquakes, cyclones, droughts and
floods;
- agriculture, allied
services and agro-based industries
including development of non-hazardous
pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
- 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;
- areas which are
relevant to a whole range of
modem systems like materials development
biotechnology, electronics and communication
with emphasis on new product
designs;
- 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;
- areas where continued
imports are difficult to sustain
eg. petroleum products and capital
goods (e.g. instrumentation and
equipment hardware);
- emerging and as
yet unexploited zones of resources
like oceans; and
- 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:
- predominant role for
RD&E teams in corporate and government
sectors;
- 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;
- institution of measures
to upgrade the efficiency and
productivity of the technologies for
ensuring quality and enhancing competitiveness;
- 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;
- providing technology support and
services for major export oriented areas like leather, textiles,
jute, jewelry, handicrafts and agro products;
- providing support for substantive
value additional for export in areas which may emerge due to rapidly
changing global mix of technologies; and
- 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.
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