(a) whether majority of the industries in India are not able to withstand competition in the International market due to outdated and obsolete technology used by them;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the development of technology has not remained independent in the wake of intellectual property rights and patents; and
(d) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTER OF STATE OF EARTH SCIENCES (SHRI Y.S. CHOWDARY)
(a)&(b) Madam, a majority of Indian industries, particularly the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are unable to withstand competition in the international market because they use outdated and obsolete technology. A few industries have made indigenous efforts in developing or adopting innovative technology to remain competitive, particularly in sectors such as information technology, drugs and pharmaceuticals and auto components. Industries and institutions in the public as well as the private sector have also developed manufacturing technologies, indigenously or through adaptation of imported technology for competing successfully in the international market. According to the Research and Development Statistics (2011-12) published by the Department of Science and Technology, 13697 products, 3438 processes, 2093 import substitutes & 4475 design prototypes were developed and 6952 consultancy services were rendered by the public and private sector institutions and industries during 2009-10.
The Government has put in place a number of R&D support mechanisms through the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of MSME, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) etc. to provide the requisite impetus to Indian industry to accelerate innovative R&D and technology development for being globally competitive.
(c)&(d) Madam, it is true that development of technology has not remained independent of intellectual property rights and patents granted in various technical fields. Now, development of any new technology usually starts with a patent search in the concerned field to find out about the research work already done, so as to avoid reinventing the wheel and formulating the technology development problem appropriately with a view to add value to existing research and development work and generate new intellectual property or patents. In fact, filing of new patents give rise to new invention that help in development of technology and according to information available with the Office of Controller of Patents & Designs, the number of patent applications filed from India in the country have been showing a rising trend from 8921 in 2011-12 to 9911 in 2012-13 and 10941 in 2013-14. The Government operates a variety of programmes to create awareness about intellectual property rights and patents, as well as offers assistance to inventors, institutions and industries in conducting patent search, filing patents etc.
However, to obviate the situation wherein patents might become a barrier to technology utilization by SMEs, basic technologies in the domain of food, water, health, roads etc. are being made available freely through the open source network by certain institutions in the country. Government also resorts to compulsory licensing for making available, technologies of critical importance to nation’s security and health.