While addressing the nation on
the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister emphasised the necessity of a
self-reliant India and he also talked about being “Vocal for Local”. There
seems to be a misconception about the term ‘local’. We need to understand the
real meaning of the word ‘local’. Local is not something which is just
manufactured in India but it is (and should be) something which is developed
and manufactured in-house and that too by the indigenous entities. To realise
the full potential within the country and utilizing the resources India will
have to make major course changes in development strategies, one of which is to
invest heavily in the front of Intellectual Property (IP).
To understand the importance of
Intellectual properties we first need to understand what actually is the
intellectual property? Well, it is basically creations of the mind, in more
easy word; it is inventions. If we want to understand that how the developed
countries reach to the point where they are now; we need to look into how they
capture the need of the time and showed the world the way forward with the help
of IP.
Learning from Japan’s post-war
success, countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong took a serious interest in investing in the new technologies during the 1970s and 80s.
South Korea climbed up to the top in the technology ladder as it invested
heavily on the R&D of electronic goods, automobiles, microprocessors, PCs and
heavy machinery. It became a global powerhouse in manufacturing, but with indigenously
developed technologies. Taiwan focused on robotics and microprocessors. China
has done a huge investment in developing communication technology and
product design. It is now focused and is investing heavily in 5G,
supercomputing, IOT, (AI), autonomous vehicles, Pharma and other technologies
of the ‘fourth industrial revolution’.
Where we are now?
India’s current position is 40th
on the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index out of IP climate in 53
global economies (report of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy
Centre). Last year India ranked 36th out of 50 countries.
As per data provided by the
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, India invests about 0.8% of its GDP on R&D.
The figures for China is 2% (not to forget that their GDP is about 4.5 times
that of India). China’s investment is now comparable to any developed country,
with Germany standing at 2.9% and the U.S. at 2.8%.
Missed chance –
Following the independence India was
ahead of most developing countries but in the 1970s and 80s, however, India did not
do much on R&D frontier. Also in 1991-92 when India was adopting liberalisation,
privatisation and globalisation it chooses to buy technologies from outside
rather than inventing in-house.
Hope –
Since the release of 2016
National IPR Policy, the Government of India has made a great effort to support
investments in innovation and creativity through increasingly robust IP
protection and enforcement. Policy implementation has improved the processing
speed for patent and trademark applications. There is also an increased
awareness of IP rights among Indian innovators and creators.
India can be a key player in the
upcoming technologies. Self-reliant capabilities in electric and fuel cell
vehicles, electricity storage systems, solar cells and modules, aircraft
including UAVs, AI, robotics and automation, etc are key areas where India can
invest to gain the advantage.
To remain ahead in the race in
the present competition there is a need for planned state investments in R&D
including basic research (3-5% of GDP), technology and policy support to
private corporations, investment in education and skill development (4-6% of
GDP). The New Education Policy seems to focus on the research and development
parts but the real result of the policy can only be seen in the times to come.
