.

UNIT 19 ROLE OF CONSIJLTANTS IN R&D

Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to :
e understand the status of consultancy, particularly technical consultgq, in India;
appreciate how technical consultants can catalyse the R&D and innovation activities;
and
e, appreciate what could be done to encourage intractions of consultants with R&D and
related organisations for more productive innovations. ,. .
Structure
Introduction
Role of Consultants
Consultancy Services in India
Consulting in R&D and Innovation
Measures to Enhance the Role of Coilsultants in R&D and Innovation
Summary
Key Words
Self-Assessment Questions
Further Readings
References
Appendix 1
Appendix 2

I . INTRODUCTION
onsultancy is essentially a knowledge based profession and consultants are often termed as
carriers of technology and related services. Historically, a consultant is defined as a person
who borrows your watch and tells you the time. This only sipdies that a consultant adds
value tl~rougllluuowledge. A consultant mostly uses existing knowledge acquired through
his perfessional experience gver a period of time. However, some large consultants or
individual professionals do have their own R&D facilities to develop New technologies,
mostly jn industrially advanced countries. An independant consultant provides advisory
services to his clients, towards finding solutions to the problems related to his field of
operations. Thus, a consultant is expected to be equipped with technical & managerial
knowldege/expertise, market information including requirement of ind&try/project
authorities as well as sources of technologies/teclmicalservices etc. The consultancy
services include market surveys, prefeasibility reports, feasibility reports, project reports,
design & engineering, upscaling and pilot trials of New technologies, sourcing and
acquisition of technologies, making technology transfer agreements, training of personnel,
layout aid operation of plants, drawings tecl~nicalspecifications, sourcing and procurement
of equipment & maclunery, costing of product, arranging finance, marketing, and so on.

-In this unit we will discuss the role of consultants in R&D and innovation, status of
consultancy services in India and measures to strengthen the role of consultants.
I

19.2 ROLE OF CONSULTANTS

Successful R&D arid innovation involves all the steps from conceptualisation of an idea to
making and marketing a prooduct/process through various stages of development and
innovation. ~ x ~ e r i e nhas
c e shown that very few ideas really get successfully converted to
profitable business. The success rate in industry is higher than in R&d laboratories, because
industrial R&D is predominantly market drjven and is often incremental in nature while lab
scale R&D js more generic and fundwuental in nature. In the age of rapid technological
development and more intense quality requirements, competitive environment on nationally

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Othcr I m p ~ r . t n a tIssues in and internntio~iallevels, arid also illcreasing nmltidisciplena~yilanlre ol'developrl~~ental
R%D M : ~ n u g c n ~ e n t aclivilics, it is unlikely that an organisation will have all cxpcrtise 2nd capabilities of'the
desired lnagiiitudc releva~itto its busincss. This is pariic;u!nrly applicnblc in case of slnall and
medium ei~teqriseswlierc internal.tcci~nical,araiagerical finalcia1 resources are often
liniited. In SIJCII cases! cstcrilal sourcing of expertise and sdviccbeconies 1;ecess:ary and
coiisul~~nts :ire i>lIiongone ofsucli sources. Similarily,R b U institi~tionsoftcn lnck carnmercial
and teclinical knonvledgerequired from the concept stage to tlic bench scale developme~ltand
commercialisation of tlie same through iicld lestslpilot :rii~ls,rliarkct sur-veys, prcparatiorl of
project reports, costing, etc. R&D org;illisations often do not have adequate appreciation of
inilrkct requirements. W O and wlated agree~ncnts,in parti~~~llar TRIPS agreemel.11, have added
to the colnplexities involvcd in R&D and innoviition. Need for Patent searcii and Patent
literacy is olic niore dimension. A technical coilsultant can irr~erfxcwith tlie R&L)
organisations as well iIs industry, and c:itaiyse tlie deveiapnacnt and commercialisation of
technologies more successfiilly, by <ofpsovidi~~gvsrioms typcs of technical & comlnercial
services. It may be renkioned that professionJsIsciel~tistsin R&D org;lnisations a ~ i d
ac;idemlc inslii~dionscall also be consl~llantsto induslty for specific problems requiring in-
depth stlldies and elaborale equipmenl/i~lstiluticr~ial facilities.

is a synerLT bcti\/~cntlic m:lnrlgcnrent of R&D and

From tlic :ibove, it c:~nbc seen tfiat 111~1e
innovation, and conipetcnt tcclinical co~lsiiltantsor co~isult~~ilcy orga~iisal~oiis. Tliis
howeirer, is not widely recogniscd in Inany dcvelup~iigcountries illcll~rlingIndim, thougln the
same is fairly well esvablislied in industrinlly developed countncs. Willi tlie niarkcl driven
technological and econo~llicdevelopmenls, the consullants are being recogniscd 3s an
impol-tant clement in tllc chain of R&D and innovation. Having establislicd that techliical
consultanls have an ii~iportantrole to plav III R&D and inl!oviition, this chapter discusses the
consultancy capabilities in Indin a11d how C C I ~ S \ J ~ ~can
~ ~ Icataiysc
I~S tlic proccss of R&D and
innovation more success full^^. Soliie anieasurcs towards this have :llso been suggcsted.

19.3 CONSULTANCY SERVICES

-- IN INDIA
Tliere are various kinds of colisull~intsi11td consultancy orgimisations operating in Endia.
These include large and srilall consdlan1;y collipanies ;inQ sell styled individualslbricf case
consultrrnts in the private sector, besides public sector consultancy connp;lnies, providing
co~~sulta~ services
~ c y in allnost all industrial and econoinic sectors. Soirle arc sector specific
while most of them are oflering a range of general services in scvcral areas. Their iinancial
base is'ratlier wc;ik. Se~~eralpublic sector consultil~lcycorllpanies are providing services in
specific sectors such as metallurgy, transport, civil engineering & coiistruction.
tdccoi~~iiiunications~ water resources and petro-cilcmicnls. A few of them such as Engi~ieers
India IJtd. (EIL) have recognised in-house R&D facilities and are i~lte~isely i~ivolvedin R&D
ai~diunovation activities. I-Io\vever, tlic nuiitbcr of sucli icchnical consultanis with
considerable experience and ertperlise anid visicm and who have a hirly slrong basc in R&D
and innovation are on the increase.'

Dririilg tlie 50 years afttcr independence, tlie consultancy activities in India liavc grocv~ias a
profcssion from a practically non-cxisting level to a levcl of i~lternationalcoinpetencc i n
several sectors. In the early stages of development: consultancy scivices were iilainly
provided by llie govcrniilenl depan~lletnsfor large projects sucli as construction of dams,
power houses, steel plants, fertilizer plants, petrochc~nicalsand refineries, arid so on.
Foreign consultanls were also engaged depending lipon tllc nature of projects, particularly
those funded by foreign financial iastitulions and/or involving conlples teclmologicsl
operations. As industrial dcvelopn~elittook place in various diversified areas, independent
technical and industrial consirltancy organisations callle into being ~llainlyin the public
sector thong11some private colnpanies were also set up. State level lechncial collsultancy
organisatiaos were pronlolcd in each state by the national finrsncial institutions and state
governments, primarily to selve tlie small 'and nlediuln enterprises in the country. Thus. tlie
donlestic consultants considerably reduced the in-flow of nornlal consultancy selvices fro111
abroad and many of then1 intewcled with R&D institutions and R&D units of industries to
help them in the acquisition and dcvelopnlent of technologies, specially in the era of import
substitadon. Thus, the consultants have played an iniporta~ltrole in the leclinical,
industrial and econoniic development in our comltry. Consultancy is now being recogniscd
as an established profession involving high levels of tecluiical and management competence
in India and abroad.

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Tile Departlllent of ScienM~cand I~idustrialKesearh (DSIR) in tlic Ministry of Science and
Tectlnology of Government of India, is the nodal departnlenl for promotion of consultancy
scmices \v.vliilethe Ministry of Con~~nercs is the nodal nlinist~yfor promotion of export of
consulta~lcysenlice. The Federation of Indian Export Pronlolin~iOrganisation (FIEO) and
E~lgineeri~lg Export Promotion Council (EEPC) are esscntially the iniplenlenti~~g arms of the
hallistry of Con~nncrcefor export of services. The Consultancy Development Centre (CDC)
at New Delhi, setnp with the support of DSIR. is a pron~otionalinstitution focusing on
educstion, training, skill up-gradation, infornlation and busi~lessneeds of consultants.
particularly sr~~allcr com~sulta:zls. C s ~ ~ s ~ l l tEngineering
ing Association of India (CEAI) and
the Institute of Mangelllent Collsulta~icyof India (IMCI) are the major consultancy
pro~notionalAssociations representing the interests of colisultancy conlrnunity in the
country. Esisn B m k of I~ldiaand other li~lancialinstitutions also ]lave evolved programmes
to promote and support the developn~enl:of consultancy capabilities in the country. CEAI is
member of thc lnternationial Federntion of Co~lsultingEngineers (FIDIC) and so also IMCI
is inelllber of Intcrilalional Institute OF Managcment Consultants. Thcse are the o~ily
member organisalions from Illdia 'LO thcir respcctivc international bodies. Thcre are stale
level technical co~lsultancyorganisatio~ls(TCOs) pmnoted by IDRI, ICICI, F C I in
cooperaliori with goveminents of rcspcctivc states and colllnlercial banks. A list of these
TCOS is given in Table - I. Ail illustrative list ofsonle other teclinical consultancy
conipanies providing teclinology i~ndinnovalion rclatcd scrvices is givc11in Table - 11.

A large uurnber of K&D organisations, ac:idel:lic institutions and other agcilcies providing
technology support scrviccs, arc also cngliged in rclideri~igtecli~iicaland engiiicering
consultancy scrviccs. For cs;~~nple, CSIR laboratorics undc~lakccontract R&D and prov~de
scrvices to the industry and govcrliille~itin tlicir rcspeclivc arcas of spccial~satioiis.Most of
tlie IITs have set up industrial/tcchniad co~is~illa~icy divisions. For cxamplc, FITT at 11T,
New Dellii is engaged in coii~~iiercialisiilio~i of lccliilologies dcvcloped in tlie IIT and
provides technical consultar~cyselvices lo i~tdustry. Sniall Industries Promotion Institutions
i~lcludi~igtesting and prototype develop~nentCe~ltrcsalso provide collsultancy serviccs and
interface nnai~ilywith s ~ i ~ aand
l l nrediuni cntclplises. Large corporatcs (in boll1 public and
privale sectors) such as NTPC. SAIL. NHPC. IOC, BHEL, ACC. CMC and several ollicrs
are also providing colisultiliicy scrviccs in thcir rcspcctivc ilrciis.

Stiltus of Cons~iltancy

Precise data about the status or tllc pcrior~i~ance of thc consi~ll;lncyco~npaniesin tllc cou~itry
are not rcadily available. However, studies in DSIR liirve bro:idly il~dicatcdtliat there were
aboul 5000 consulk~ilcyorganisations/conlpanies,small ;ind big. with total annual Lurllover
of around Rs. 1900 crorcs. employing over 45,000 pcrsoiincl (1994-95). Avcragc annual
earnings per person workc:d out to bc aboul Ks. 4-5 laklis. 75% oitlic consilltancy
organisations fell i11 tlic annual turnover rangc of Rs. 25 lakhs and below and abod 2% had
avcrage earnings of Rs. 10 crorcs a ~ i d~ I O ~ Cwhile
, about 3% had average e:~r~iings of Rs. 1
crores to 3 crores. Tt limy bc mentioned that tlic above numbcrs i~liiy011ly be taken as ii first
approsilriatiorl becausc of iiihcre~itli~nitatio~is in the collcctio~land ;inalysis of runssive data
iilvolved in s~lchan csercisc carricd oul over a pcriod of few ycars. Siilce the
in~plenlentatiollof New policics in 1931-92 and tlic enlrance or foreign co~lsultaiitsin India,
the consultancy business sccins to liavc grown faster in quantity aiid quality both. An
illuslrativc list of forcign consultants operating in India is give11 in Table ITT. Indilm
Consultants however, appear to bc facing tough co~llpclitionand are reorienting their
strategics and business plans. Strntcgic alliances slid partilersliips appear lo be gaining
acceptance anlomg consultancy firins.

Soltie of the Indian Consu1t;iucy organisations have bcen ablc to esport Llic international
bidding their tccluiical sc~viccsto several developing countries , Lhe export carnings being
estimated at about Rs:SOO crores dtiring 1995-06 esch~diilgcxporl of coliiputcrsoftware. A few
technical consultancy organisations have bcen listed with thc ir~ter~latio~lal
financial
institutions such as World Bank, Asian Dcveloplllc~ltBank and Africa1 Dcvelopmc~dBalk.
These orgalusations liavc sccured globlil co~isultancycontracts within the counby and
abroad invarious areas such as Civil Engineering and Constn~ction,Railways,
Teleconin~u~licotions. Power Plants, and so on.

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Other Inlportallt Issues in International Cooperation in Technici~lConsultancy
R&D M n ~ r ~ g e n r e ~ ~ t
India has bee11 activcly participating in the proillotio~lof lecll~licalcooperati011among
developing countries, besides llaving S&T cooperation agreclllellts with a number of
developed countries. However, technical consultancy is yct to find its esplicit place ill these
agreements. A recent initiative of DSIR has been to promote technical consultancy
cooperation in thc ESCAP region through a Technical Consuyancy Dcvelopnlent
Progranlme (TCDPAP) being inlplenlented through CDC at New Delhi and supported by
ESCAP. The objective of TCDPAP is to strenglllen technical consultancy capabilities in the
developing countries and promote cooperation in the collsulta~lcyservices. Asian and
Pacific Centre for Transier of Techllology (APCTT) at New Delhi, is also actively engagcd in
the promotion of tcchnical consultallcy services in the ESCAP region, particularly witli
respect to environ~nentfriendly technology transfers for slnall and medium enterprises.
UNDP, UNIDO and ITC have also beell engaged in pronloting and strcngthing teclinical
consultancy services in developing countries though the visible impact of these efforts is yct
to be ielt.

General Agreement on Tri~dein Services (GATS)

The Un~guayRound of Trade Negotiations werc coinpletcd 011 Dcccnlbcr 15, 1993 and the
results were formally adopted in Marrakcsh on April 15, 1994. A illajor colnponcnt of the
Marrakesh Agree~nentwas the cstablishnlcnt of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to
which a nunlber of agreements on trade in goods, Tradc Relatcd lnvest~ncntMeasures
(TRlMS), General Agreement 011 Trade in Serviccs (GATS), Trade Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) wcrc anncsed. Thc Geileral Agreenlcnt of Trade in
Scrvices (GATS) intended to facilitate the illcreasing participations o i developing coiuntries
in World Tradc by providing for the negotiation of specific conl~nitnlentson such matters as
access to technology on a co~nnlercialbasis, improved access to distribution channels, and
infornlation networks and the liberalisatioil of market access in service industries and nlodes
of supply that are o i spccial export interest to tllcm. It also requircs dcvcloped countries to
facilitate access to service suppliers of devloping countries to llccessary conlnlercial and
technical information. GATS is to facilitate the increasing participation of developing
countreis in trade in services and the expansion of servicc exports through the strengtl~eni~lg
of their donlestic capability, ef~cicncyand competitiveness. Technical Assistance to
developing countries is to bc provided at the ~nultilatccallcvcl by WTO and shall be decided
by tllc Cou~lcilfor Trade in Scrvices. The ililplicatio~lsand nlodalities of operations 01'
GATS arc not yet fully understood, and need detailed studies of the variolls provisions in tllc
Agreement.

Promotional Policies and Measures

Thcre are practically no specific policies to promote and encourage the consultancy services
in the do~nesticlllarket today, cscept the pronlotio~lalmeasurcs being undertaken by the
DSIR through its plan scheme, "Promotion and suppo;t to Consuliancy Serviccs". In fact,
the Gover~lnlentof India in the budget of 1997-98 has withdrawn tllc hcilities available
under Section 8 0 - 0 of the Income-Tax Act mlder which 50% of the earnings were tax
deductible in computing the tasable inco~neof Cons~~ltants, if thc consultancy was approved
by the Government. Even worse. co~lsultantshave now to pay selvice charge of 5% on the
co~lsulta~lcyearnings. However, the Govern~nentis providing Markct Developnlent
Assistance for :

i) Undertaking nlarket studf abroad @ GOXI ofthc approved espenditure

ii) 25-60% for opening and operating overseas offices for the first fivc years
iii) Publicity ca~llpaign:GO% of the approvcd net expenditure for bringing out publications for
use abroad and 40% of the approved net espcnditurc on brand publicity abroad
iv) Reinlbnise~llentof cost of preparation and submission of bids for tur~lkey/constn~ction
projccts/operationand maintenance of service contracts/consultancy~cts/consltacontracts
n upto 50%
subject to certain limits.

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Tile EXIM policy 1997-2002 lias introduced the following benefits to the service sector.
I
Role of C O J I S U ~ ~ B I I ~ S i
111 R&D itnd Ilr~~ovatiua
!1 The benefit of Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme (EPCG) will also be available to
the servicc sector for iniport of machifiery and eq~iiplilentat concessional rate of duty.
ji) Permits setting up of 100% Export Oriented Units (J3OUs) and Units under Export
Processiilg Zor~es(EPZs) in the service sector. Such units are eligible for all facilitics
and benefits available to other nlanufacturing and agricultural units.
iii) The export earnings of service sector units are also eligible for calculations to
designate as uiiits for the status of export houses/trading liouscs/star trading and
super star trading houscs.
iv) Service exports arc: made cligible for spccial iiilport licences (SIL)at the rate of 300/;,of
the Net Foreign Exchange Earnings (NFE) where the bencfits of duty exeniptioils are
not under tlle EOUIEQUSTPIEHTP schemes. In other cases tlie units arc eligible for
15% of NFE.

It will be worth iuentioning here tliat the above provisions of EXIM policy for the services '

sector seem just passing references. Exim Bank of India also providcs certaiii facilitics and
incentives to promotc export of technical coiiaillaiicy

Activity 1
111ttte r:oniloxt of yoldr O\VII org:~lais:itioii,iiiclicutc tllc role tlic consullanls can play in
iialplclnieaiti~lglIcY:,6) projects. Also, ai;lriw 3 k w consultul~lswho could bc iiscfiil for tli:it
R&D pr[3.jcci.?

19.4 CONSULTING IN K&D AND INNOVATION

We have seen in the foregoing parns that tec11nic:ll coils~iltantscan play an ilnponailt role in
the develophent, transfer and coinirlercialisatiol1 of technologies. We have considerable
technical consultancy capabilities in several areas such as civil engiileering and construction.
cliernicals and petro-cliemicals, nletallurgy, conlputer softwnrc, telecoiilnlunicalioi~s,
transport, power, and so on. Tlic technical coilsultallts call provide various serviccs'among
others, to R&D and othcr organisations in relation to R&D and innovation. These are listed
in Appeildix 1.

The role of consultailts in R&D and inilovation bas been discussed in a case study in wliicll
National Rescarcli Developincnt Corporati~n(NRDC) was iiivolved as a proccss licciisor and
Engineers India Liiniled (EIL) as a consultant. This related to tlie developnleilt and
coninlercialisation of Zeolite 'A', Intcrillediate for enviro-friendly Detergents, developed by
Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Researcli Institute (CSMCRI) at Bhavanagar. The client
was National Alullli~lillluillC O I I I ~ I(NALCO).3
ZI~~

A coilsultiilg coinpany can play a significiint role in R&D"'):It can provide direction and
support to cover aspects includiilg :

Selection of projcct
Execution of project
Monitoring and peer review
Assessnleilt of eilvironlnaital inlpact '

Marketing of R&d products

An engineering company with multi-disciplinary expcrtisc aiid approach can y'rovide the
necessary support to convert the know-how devcloped at laboratory/bench scale in national
research institutions ta a cornnlercial size, One has to appreciate that the global nature of
the con~pctitioiland tlae rangc of experlise now required lo develop a specilic technoloby
makcs it imperative to have R&D collaboralion at all levels including consultants. '
The involvement of 1111 engineering conlpany with R&D for process developnleilt llas bcen

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ather Important Issues im successful in a number of cases. Engineers India Li~nitedhas bccn inlvolved in tflc
R&D Management development of a number of processes in association with national research institutions, and
its own in-house R&D supplemented by necessary inputs from various disciplines in the
company. The development of process design capabilities and successf~llcommercialisation
of processes for the manufacture of Aronlatics based on Sulfolance, Food Grade Hexane and
Acrylates are examples of this collaboration. Capabilities have been developed to offer
complete process design for semi Regenerative Rcforming in collaboratioi~with Indian
Institute of Petroleum and ZPCL. A host of refinely technologies have also been developed
in this manner. The in-house development in E L and RAGE, a sofiware for data
reco~iciliatioiiand Gamnla Scilming Capabilities for diagilostic studies of flow inside
equipment illustrate how a technical consultant can address K&D needs for real time
feedback of accurate plant data.

A coilsultant can play 'an Advisory role and also an active role with R&D5. Academicians
and scientists nlay not necessarily perceive RBD needs which are relevant to ground realities
of our couiitry. The right type of coilsultilnts can 11ctp in policy malting process and selection
of R&D projects. The active role would involve collaborative cfTorts between the R$D
institutions, industry and consultai~ts.Huinplueys and Glasgow. havc participated with CSIR
labs where technical expertise of tlle conlpany has worked liand to hand to develop processes
and technologiesfor comnn~ercialisation.The caution to be exercised here is to make sure
that such projects are selected judiciously, avoiding instances of "rc-inventing the wheel" or
of purely academic endeavours, A sense of accountability and productivity in laboratories is
also introduced.

The role of technical coi~sultantsin management of creativity and R&D has been enlpllasised
in comnlercial R&D companies(Q. While it has been recogriised that creativity is the greatest
motivating factor for the ir~dustrymanagers, what motivates the W D people is a role in the
industrial application. There is an urgent need for nlailagetnent and marketing of their
creativity leading to commercial exploitation. Therefore, bridging these two groups requires
a special breed of people who underslarld and interact in both languages i.e. from eddy
current loss (1%) to internal rate of return (IRR).

These technology consultants have more ardous task than t l l ~ classical consultants (who help
in identifying only 'proven' technologies for companies), in that tiley have not only to
identify the emerging technologies but also assist the R&D institutions to hasten the
coillinercialisationof such etilerging technologies for specific industrial nesds. A case study
relates to involving Esvin Advanced Tecl~nologiesLinliled (ESVIN Tech.) as a cons~lltant,in
thc dcvelopinent of a process for making mccl~anicalgrade pulp out of bagasses. This scans
to have led Tamil Nadu News Prints Lld. (TNPL) to maliufacture Newsprint from bagasses
for alle first time ill tlie world. The success story of TNPL, is an anlple tcstilllony oftlle Rolc
of Technical Consultailt in R&D.

With the fiulding assistance undcr PACT of ICICI and VCF of IDBI, the Esvin Tech has
installed a demo-plant and deinonslraled to small paper illills that silica laden black liqnor
can be comfortably handlcd in tlie gassified fornl without prior desilication slcp. This is
considered as a sigiuficailt breakthrough for the paper industry as a whole as thcre was
perhaps no other vidble technology in the world for rice straw based spent liquor recovery.
The colrtpany has also claiil~edto have developed a core technology for de-ashing of
sugarcane juice, with the technical assistance of Central Salt and Marine Chemicals
Research Instihite (CSMCR) of Rhavnagar. This seems to have led to the develop~nentof a
New product called liquid sugar, which has been jointly developed with a leading
confectionery manufacturer. This project was sponsorcd by Ponnisugars and Chenlicals
undcr SPREAD fiinding Scheme of ICICI.

Role of technical consultailts has been well enlphasised in RBD aud innovation by several
other consultcants in various areas such as soaps & detergents, equipment layout and pilot
plant, teclmology selection and sourcing?preparation of process packages, scale-up in the
chemical industry, piping & instrun~entationdiagranl, vendor selection for plant dk
equipment, upgrading plant capacity hy productive utilisation of waste streams and an
integrated approach for utiliries design, etc. (n

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 Several R&D projccts in industry, i~?vakving RckD il:~61i:ti011~, corisulbl~lsand indusixy have Rule o f Consultta~ita '
been supported under the PATSER progrlulline of DSN. R&D propos:~isare ~isuallymade by in R&D allti I ~ ~ ~ ~ o v a t i o n
an industrial unit, having relevance to its areas of operations as well as to the nation.
Technical consultalicy senrices are solaght from the professional consul.lancyorganisations,
R&D institutions, academic institutions such as IITs, I.I.Sc, etc. and also individual experts1
specialists, for specific conlgo~wntsof a project. At tinles, technical consnltants may also be
included in the project review comnzittees, to benefit from their specialised h~owledgel
experience.. DST,DSIR, TIFAC, hIRL?rC, clc. Ilavr; utilised the services of tcchuical
consultants in preparation of techndogy status repoats in specified sectors of economy,
primaily with a view to advise t l ~ einidustry sl-rd the govcr-1ae:acarton status of tecl~nologiesin
.the cou~ltryand to idei~fifyR&D prnjecls that colild bc nr~deret~kken in fiit~~re. The daLd
infocsnnlation in these rcpoqs are very usefi~lin evolving RKrd prognmmes and esecotirag tlie
sanle to dleir logical conclusions. The assistance of lhese consultants is also sornetinles
sought at varions stages d the projects.

The result of an empirical study wit11 respect to sorilc 50 inajor i~lter~ialional projects earned
out by 36 largest canadian collsultillg e~lgiriccrlrlgiinns in developing coui~tricshave
indicated lhat major costs wcre townrtls tcchnolo~ytrtransfcrs to the clients, and mostly
concentrated in the area oftraining @). It also fouild tbet socc~sstults'insiers involved ;a
specific set of capabilities and are usually conducted through joint ventures between the
trmsfer'er and tile transferee, that successful Irdnsl'erees ofte~lhad I U D . 'The study
enlphasised tlie usehlness of thc interaclions of enginccnng consultants will1 K&D
oganisa!ions and the imnportancc of R&D capabilities of thc consul~~nts tliemselvcs. Tlie
knowledge gained by consultar~tson varlous projccts under vaned sitl~alionshelped in
caqilig out co~~~mercial ~clevilntR.&D.

In the times to colne engineering and tecikllical consdtanls will have increasingly inlportant
rolc in conceptualisatio~lto cornplctiol~of W D projects, inllovatioils and in related
activities. Tlie teclimolo~~ and product life lilbzycles are becoming sholter and shortcr
because of faster tecllriological dcveloplllelits and stricter require~ncntsfmm custonlcrs as
also increasillg compciion at national and global levels. I'roduction facilities and
technologics are being globalised, markets arc heculr~ingu~lified,and illore and more
corporates are becoming out~vardlooking in various coua~iries.Knowledge and knowledge
intcrisive productslprocesses illid serviccs are being traded increasingly, in plirsuit of higher
value addition to the raw lrliiterials and commodities. E~lvirolililcntand pollntion control,
energy, safety, iildircct and direct barriers by the developed countries, regionalisationand
sub-regionalisation suclr as NAFTA. ASEAN, SAARC, APEG, arc sonie otller fzictors to be
taken into account in thc R&D ;and inilovatiol~activities. 'I'he R&D institutions and itidustry
wo111dtliercft,re 11:tvc to seek the serviccs and advice of cotlsultarils if tllc i~iliovationshave to
be intcrnatioi~allyqnd cornr~~erci;!lly vi;;bIc.

DSTR and CDC have taken several initi;ltives a~ldprogr'tmmcs promute intcraction of
coaisultants with R&D institntio~lsand stry will1 a vicw to skrengthen thc linkages between
diem is an essential rcquirenlennl fox inorc effccnivt t~bilisslioiaR&D results and facilities.
These progralnnlcs and activitic~i:Jsa hclpcd ~n planning of R&0 projects and better
ercialisation of thc same. Some of tllc ~ I I L C ~ ;li:tivitit:s
~ ~ C icd out by DSIWCDC are listed in
Appendix 2.

19.5 MEASURES 1'0 ENFIANCE ' M E ROLE OF

- - CONSI_JPII'ANrTSIN Rc!D AND INNOVATION
In tlre prccecding sections wc !~;wedisca~ssedthc role that tecllliical consulta~ltscall play in
catdysing R&D and innovation tlclivitics G sr better resalts aitd co~n~merciallyviability. We
also mentioned soikle of the expcriencc!; ol co~isultnn~rs
in fa~iliti~tilbgf?~kDa ~ illnovation
~ d
and how ~011sultilntslaave ~letworkcdwill1 R&D ~nstit~~iions and industry. However, such
experiences have been limited. There is a need to cvolve incc~il~rres and mecl~anisimsto
enhance sllc11interactions countqwide. The following sugqt:stions map be useful:

i) The tecllnical and tr:ch~rr~lngicalcapnljililir:~o i csns~tltantsiliterested in R8rD and

innovation need to be strcngt)ile91etJ. SknBl opgr.~sl,atic~n
aeld whining programmes should

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Other 111qortant Issues in be organised by R&D and academic institutions in specificemerging areas for technology
R&D Management developments, for consultants. This would facilitate consultants to keep then1 abreast
with the latest scientific developments. Consultants should be encouraged to participate
intechnical exhibitions/seminars/worksl~ops etc aid also interact with R&D organisations
abroad.
ii) Consultants should be encouraged to visit P.&D institutions and interact with
scientists. This would enable consultants to have a feel of the expertise and the
facilities available. This would facilitate n~axinlumuse of the R&D facilities by .
industryfor its R&D and innovation activities.
iii) Training progranlnlesshould be organised for scientists and tecl~nologistson various
conl~nercialaspects of R&D projects through consultants.
iv) Technical consultants with established capabilities and reputation or credibility should
be inducted in tlie technical advisory coillnlittees or project illonitoring comnlitteesfor
R&D projects. Also, they should be included, on case to case basis, in the governing
or marlagement committees of the institutions.
v) S&T pron~olionaland funding agencies should consult relevant technical consultants
for evaluation of R&D project proposals received fro111R&D institutions or industry.
vi) , Techilical consultallts sliould be collaborative partners in R&D projects in areas of
mutual interest. They can play an important advisory roIe in enabling a company in
acquisition, absorption and upgradation of technologies, at conlpetitive and
favourable terms: They call also facilitate the financially relevant and conimercially
feasible unpackaging of teclmology and in u~ldertakingthe nlodular development on
priority basis.
There should be encouragement for exchange of scientists to worlc with technical
consultancy organisations for a limited period and vice versa.
The equity base of consultancy companies is usually low they have assets nlostly in
the form of knowledge and human resource. The banks and financial institutions -
usually do not accord the same status to colisultancy conlpanies as they do to
manufacturing companies, Therefore, ihere is a need to provide soft fi~~ancefloans etc
to consultancy companies, specially those engaged in R&D and innovation.
Consultancy Deve1op;leilt Centre (CDC) and Consultancy Associatioils should be
more active to arrange interactions of technical co~lsultantswith R&D and related
organisations. Also, they should dissenlinate i~dor~uatiionto consultants about
teclmologies available for transfer as also about R&D projects being underlaken.
DSIR and other agencies may provide grants to encourage interactio~lof consultants
with R&D institutions. ,
29 Design & engineeringbesed consultancy coinpanies should b i set up in speCific
sectors of i~ldustrialand econonuc inlportance. These nlay include food processing,
packaging, environment & pollution control, leather, autonlobiles, etc. These
conlpanies can facilitate the undertaking of R&d projccts and ilulovations for
domestic and export markets. Higher value added eqorts is the necd of the day.

19,6 SUMMARY
Consultancy is essentially a knowledge-based profession, and teclmical consultants are
carriers of technologies and ieclulological services. Consultants are expected to have
interactions and contacts with the industry, fiirancial institutions, R&D and academic
institutions, besides knowldege about government policies and facilities available at national
and international levels. Thus consultants have the pulse of technology markets and
requirements. Tlig can usually arrange or facilitate acquisition of proven technologies by
industry. Howeve'r, some M D and teclinology based consultants also take active interest in
R&D projects and innovations carried out in R&D institutions and industry. Thc role of
consultants is essentially to eilhance commercial wortliiness of innovations. They see to it
that the projects undertaken have industrial applications and the emerging technologics are
successfully transferred to the market place. The consultancy services may range from
preparation ofpre-feasibility reports to transfer of technologies, oper;ationaling of
nlanufacturing plants, and finally market the product to the customers. These would also

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includedesign & engineering, sourcing and costing of materials & equipnlents, preparatioilof Role of Co~~sulinnts
technology transier documents, undertaking pilot plant and prototype trials, test marketing, in R&D ni~dIn~rovntion
technical specifications, and so on.

R&D and innovation i.e. "mind to market" involve a long chain of activities within a
laboratory and outside. Infact, successful innovations depend on cretativity of people and
may not always imply the development of a new technology but a new .applicationof an
existiilg technology. A technical consultant or even managenlent/marketing consultant may
help in idenwing a marketable product which may be new, with enomlous market
ptential, but rnay involve existing teclmology. Development of WALKMEN by Sony in
Japan is an example of this type of product development.

Large ii~vestn~entshave been made in developing S&T facilities and capabilities in the
country including a chain of R&D laboratories. However, the outputs from investments in
R&D are generally corisidered to be inadequate, particularly in areas directly related to
industry and consumer. There is a growing feeling that R&D activities need to be more
industry responsive and time sensitive. Competent teclmical consultants can be effective
agents in catalysing the increased utilisation of R&D facilities in the country and in
implementing R&D projects more effectively from the comnlercial point of view.

Tliere is however a need to upgrade the technical and technological skills of consultants,
particularly in new and emerging areas. Also, the interactions between the consultants and
R&D organisations as well as R&D funding agencies need to be enhanced. DSIR and other
related departments/agencies should support such interactions and involvement of
consultants via R&D projects and innovations.

19.7 KEY WORDS

Consultant : A person or an organisation which re~~dersvalue addition by way of knowledge
based advice where such knowledge and skills are ordinarily not available in the market.

Consultancy Services : A range of services such as preparation of feasibility, project and

market survey reports, design & engineering, pilot plant and prototype tests, test marketing,
Services for technology selectioil and acquisition to training and operations of plants, etc.

SELF-ASSESSMENT OUESTIONS
1) Define a consultant and coilsultancy services.

2) What are the salient cllaracterstic differences between Indian consultants and foreign
consultants who have set up offices in India?

3) Name five technical consultailts who could be suitable to catalyse R&D and innovation
activities in your organisation, and why ?

4) ' Do you really think that technical consultants can facilitate the process of R&D and
innovation? If so, why? Givc an extullple lo support your views.

3) Should a consultant be associated with an R&D project from its inception to con~pletion
or a consultant sl~ouldbe approached only when his advice is required at some stage or
for a specific problem only'? Justify your views.

6) Do you agree with the suggestions made in this unit to improve the role of consultants
in R&D and innovation'? Make some more: suggestions.

7) Is the cost of consultancy in a firm justified in terms of expected returns. Discuss.

8) What is GATS ? How can it facilituteaccess to technology and technical information for
developing countries'?

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\
i 1
1' :
I
Other Inlportnnt Irsues in 9) HOW Can engineering and technical consultants facilitate the process of R&D and
R&D Management innovation ? Name a few consultants who could be engaged by your organisation for
R&D activities/projects.
I

10) What are the emerging issues which sl~ouldbe taken into account in concept~alisin~
I and implementing R&D projects?

19.9 FURTHER READINGS

Globali.safionand Consultancy, Allied Publishers Limited, New Delhi, 1998

Chenrical Industry Digest, special issue : Consultancy& Engineering, Oct. 1997.

\ National Directoryof Consultnncy Services, CDC, New Dellu; 1998

I

REFERENCES
1) Aganval S.P. & RmnKldari;"Initiatives for PromotingTechnical Consultancy Sewims in
India", Globalisationand consultancy papers presented at the First National consultancy
Congress , 15-16, January, 1998, New Delhi (organised by Consultancy Development
Centre),pp 37-40; Allied Publishers Ltd; 1998

2) Sridhar S; ?Role of Financial and other International Institutions in Comultancy Sewices

Exports", Globalisation and Consultancy, Papers presented at the First National
Consultancy Congress, 15-16, January, 1998, New Delhi (organised by Consultancy
Development Centre); pp 86-95, Allied Publishers Ltd.; 1998

3) Slarma N.K., Role of Consultants in R&D; Proceedingsof the Tenth National Confkrence
on in-house R&D in Industry, New Dellu, DSIR, March, 1997; pp 65-69,

4) Venkataraman, R.S.; Role of Technical Consultants in R&D; proceedings of the Tenth

National Coilfere~lceon in-llouse R&D in Industry, New Delhi; DSIR; March 1997; pp
70-75

5) Dravid A.N.; Role of Technical Consultants in R&D; proceedings of the Tenth National
Conference on in-house R&D in Industry, New Delhi; DSIR, March 1997; pp 76-77.
1
6) Venkataraman T.S,; Role of Technical Consultants in R&D; proceedings of the Tenth
National Conference on in-house R&D in Industry, New Delhi; DSIR, March 1997; pp
6164

7) Cllemical Industry Digest, Special Issue, Consultancy & Engg,Oct., 1997

I)) Niosi J; etal; Teclmologytransfer to developing coixntries through engineering firms; The
I
onadirul experience; World Developlnent; Vol23, No, 10, pp 1815-24
I

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 Role of Co~lsultnntr
Appendix I 111 R&D tinil 11111ovstiu11

Services provided by Consultants

MARKET SURVEYS

9 Intellectual property status i.e. whether proposed productlprocess is already developed

and patented elsewhere.
e World demand vs Indian denund thereby indicating comnlercial potential.of the proposed
project
e Details of existing manufacturersin the world and in India
e Product quality
- Quality parameters & requirementsand standards
- Process paranleters
e Sourcing and costing of equipment, raw materials & colnponents
m - m G
Testing of product qualitylspecificationsin independent institutesas per internationalstandards
or as per the requiretnents. .
e Test paratneters
Methodology of t.esting
e Evaluation of results
Size of target market and clients to be chosen for test marketing
Quantities required for test marketing
e Product variables to be used
TEHNOU)<;YEVALUAnON
0 Status'of intelleutual property protection
e Obtaining information on competing technologies / products
- Cost of technology
- Viable capacities of plants in production
- Identifying technology parameters for evaluation
- Methodology of Evaluation
- Competitiveness of tbe tech~lology/intlovation
DESIGN OFPlLOTfllEMONSl'RATIONPLANTS
- Determination of suitable capacity and sizc of pilot plot~ts
- On-line instrun~entationnquired to vary process parametersfrom process optimisation
- Plant design to be versatile to enable study of boundary conditions
- .Facilitate study of batch vs, continuous production
-
Facilitate Intellectual Property Protection for various sections of the plant
TEcHNOLOGYPLANSMIRmUs'IRU
- Study of existing infrastructure including process plants, and business plans
-
VerticalAlorizontaldiversification possibilities
- Identification of New technologies (indigenous and foreign)
-
Modalities of sourcing of these technologies
-
Preparation of 5/10 year technologvplan
-
Technical skill upgradationltrainirr1: etc. rquircmenls
-
Mades of financing the technology plan

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I
O t h e r 1111purtnntIssues in COm~CIALI,SATION
& TRANSFER OF R&D RESUL21FmCHNOLOGWS
R&D M n n a g e n i e r t
- Preparation of Tecl~nologyTransfer Documents
- Settle terms & conditions for technology transfer
I
- Identify suitable clientlclients
- Negotiate and interface with the clients
- Advise clients to prepare for receiving the technology
- Prepare feasibility and project reports
Interface with financial institutions, banks and venture capital companies for arranging
financial support and risk involved
- Interface with scientists and industry during h~~plen~entation
of the project and thereafter
- Offer to be made on turnkey basis so that the risk of the client is minimised and confidence
level is high on the viability of the R&D afid tecl~nology
- Arrange coordination and interactions with other R&D organisations/experts or
specilised organisations relevant for the success of the project, including swategic
alliances in R&D
- Services to improve and upgrade the technologies as per market requirements

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 Appendix 2 Rule of Cor~sultants
III R&D nud 1111lovntion

Some activities i~iitiatedby DSER/CI)C

Launched a scheme for developtnent of technical consullancycapabilities in the country
by selling of CDC Consultancy associations have been supported. A large number of
st~~dieshave becn carried out relating to consultancy capabilities in general the country
and in spccific industrial sectors such as sugar, teleconmlunications,etc. These studies
have identified the R&D areas where tcclulical consultants can be of use.
Carried out a nunlber of studies relating to technoloby status and technology norms in
more than two hundred areas. These studies had helpcd the technological and technical
data base of consultants who carried out these studies and also their interactions with
R&D and industry during preparation oi'reports. Tlle overall mindframes and attitudes
of same of the consult'u~tshave widened and some of them have started taking lmre
interest in R&D projects and innovations.
' The initiative of establishing Technical Consultancy Development P r o g r a ~ n for~ ~ Asia
~e
and Pacific (TCDPAP) with the support of ESCAP which is, now being iniplemented.
Has also actively pa~ticipatedand interacted with the programmes of ITC and UNIDO,
in ereas related' to dcvelopnlent of technical consultancy services in developing conntries.
Has enq~hasisedin all these fora tliat technical consultants have a ~najorrole lo play in
R&D and inilovation.
Evolved a new category for its membership for scientists and teclmologies particularly for
tliose engaged in R&D institutions, with a very small meinbership fee. Has also started
interactingwill1 institulionsand collecting ildormationregardingtheir fl&D projects
and technologies for dissemination about availability of consultants through its various
publications.
Has organised a few workshops ;u~dinteraction meets relating to tlie role of consultants
in technology transfer and awareness in quality mawagement systems including IS0
'Mooand 14000.
Organising training programmes for scientists in R&D institutions such as CBRI and
CRRI wl~oare planning to go for IS0 9000 certification.
Provides financial support to consdtants to ellcouragetheir participation in 1118specialised
programmes in emergingareas of science tuld tecl~nologyso as to eliable them to upgrdde
thcir tec11nologicaXskills md infor~nationbase. E~lcouragesvisits of technical co~isdtants
to W D institutions. Also CDC provides financial support to consultants who want to
go for llrainii~igor skill upgradation prograrrrlnc or to visit technical exhibitiondtrade
fairs ab~oad.
Planned to oxgimise workshops on "role of consultants in commercialisation of
technologies" witla the support of Teclulology Developnlent Board and other related
agcncics.
Techiolsnm managenlent is one of the important ilrrodules covered in the syllabus for its
MS course in consultancy management being conducted at New Delhi in co-operation
114th BirBa Tnsitute or Te'cchmlogy and Science (BITS), Pilani. Interaction with various
II'rs and other acadenlic institutions.
Have planned to prorklob design and engineering centres as well as consultancy clinics
with t8ne active participation of R&D and academic insitutions. For example a Design
Ccntrt: in Fwd Processing has been y l m ~ ~ c dbewsetup by the U.P.Industrial
1Erngin~'f:rirag
ConsuRta~asKil~ailetlat Kanpur? with tlie actd~wtechmlagical support of Central Food
Techwdolgiml ResearcR1 .[n~il.ute,Mysore and also Ministry of Food Processing as well
as Engimced~lgand Agricultural institutes at Kanpur.

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