Technology Transfer in India
Technology Transfer in India
Technology Transfer in India
MEHAK BHARGAVA
B.COM HONS.
ROLL NO. 082038
MEANING OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
Technology transfer is the process by which basic science research and
fundamental discoveries are developed into practical and commercially
relevant applications and products. Technology Transfer personnel evaluate
and manage invention portfolios, oversee patent prosecution, negotiate
licensing agreements and periodically review cooperative research
agreements already in place. Part of the technology transfer process involves
the prosecution of patents which is overseen by the national Patent and
Trademark Office. Individuals with advanced degrees in the biomedical
sciences are needed to review and process patents in the biotechnology
field.
TT Function: Nurture
TT Function: Link
‘Technology transfer’ means the use of knowledge and when we talk about
transfer of the technology, we really mean the transfer of knowledge by way
of an agreement between the states or companies. ‘Transfer’ does not mean
the movement or delivery; transfer can only happen if technology is used.
So, it is application of technology and considered as process by which
technology developed for one purpose is used either in different applications
or by a new user.
Technology generally would comprise the following elements:
Payment of royalty up to 2 per cent for export and 1 per cent for domestic
sales is allowed under automatic route on use of trademark and brand name
of the foreign collaborator without technology transfer. In case of technology
transfer, payment of royalty subsumes the payment of royalty for use of
trademark and brand name of the foreign collaborators.
Payment of royalty up to 8 per cent for export and 5 percent on domestic
sales by wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS) to offshore parent companies is
allowed under the automatic route without any restriction on the duration of
royalty payments
All other proposals for foreign technology agreements not meeting the
parameters for automatic approval are considered on merit by the Project
Approval Board (PAB).This
is chaired by the secretary, department of Industrial Policy and promotion,
Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
All others proposals of foreign technology agreement, not meeting the any or
all of the parameters for automatic approval, are considered for approval, on
merits, by the Government.
Applications in respect of such proposals should be made submitted in form
FC/IL (SIA) to the secretariat for Industrial Assistance, Department of
Industrial Policy Promotion, Ministry of Industry, Udhyog Bhawan, New Delhi.
No Fees is payable. Approvals are normally available within 4 weeks of filing
the application.
While the last decade witnessed a veritable explosion in cross border FDI
flows, the lion’s share of such flows was accounted for by Mergers and
Acquisitions (M & As) as compared to the green field route. The major reason
why countries, especially developing countries, seek FDI is the expectation of
getting the much needed state-of- the-art technology. M & As do not always
augment the stock of productive physical capital in the host country. At the
same time, while Greenfield investment, by virtue of new entry, increases
competition, M & As most often lead to increases in economic concentration
by reducing the number of active players in the market. The effects of M &
As, either directly or through linkages and spill-overs, also depend on
whether the investment is natural-resource-seeking, market-seeking,
efficiency–seeking or created asset seeking. The motive of MNCs behind M &
A investment would have an important bearing on the type and quality of the
technology transferred. The paper, therefore, urges that it is important for
developing countries to not only ensure ‘whether’ technology is being
transferred, but also the ‘nature’ of such transfer.
The Indian paper in the WTO highlights the fact that the growth rates
recorded by FDI flows in the past few years have been more impressive than
those by technology transfer payments, which tends to indicate that the
recent spurt in FDI flows may not have been accompanied by technology
transfer. More particularly as the share developing countries in FDI flows has
started moving up, their share in technology transfers has come down.
The Indian paper refers to the distinction drawn by economists between the
‘know how’ and 'know-why’ of technology transfer and certain findings that
technology transfer within MNCs are very efficient for transferring know-how,
but less so for transferring know-why. Evidence indicated in the literature,
especially with reference to the experience of Korea, shows that M&A type of
FDI accompanying MNCs has transferred a high level of ‘operating and
organisational’ technology, which is very different from a high level of
‘production technology’. Referring to the experience of South East Asian
countries the paper states that low technological capability might co-exist
with the capability to successfully use new technologies. The simple act of
high technology production in any country does not ensure that efficient
learning has occurred, and the latter depends on a host of factors other than
technology transfer per se. Quoting the World Investment Report, the paper
underlines the fact that developing countries attract only marginal shares of
foreign affiliate research, and much of what they get relates to production,
adaptation and technical support (which is in the form of know-how) rather
than relating to innovation (know-why).