Foreign Collaborations in India A Study of Patterns in the Pre and the Post- liberalisation Era

Abstract

Developing countries like India have been using import of technology through foreign collaboration as a strategy to bridge the technological gaps in the country, to expedite economic development. There have not been many studies, however, to understand its impact and implications for technological capacity building of the country, and the deficiencies to be overcome for deriving the maximum benefits from collaborations. Experience also shows that many a collaborations have failed to fetch results as expected, and many have run into rough weather in implementation. There is thus, a need for comprehensive, systematic studies on the subject to help the decision makers at various levels in the industry and government. This study, based upon authentic databases available from the Indian Investment Centre, New Delhi and Centre for monitoring Indian Economy makes an effort to address some of the above issues. It analyses the patterns of foreign collaborations in India, spanning a period of 50 years from 1951 to 2000, divided into two parts, the pre and post liberalization era. The study reveals significant patterns in terms of the level of collaboration (both in terms of number and value), the nature of collaborations and the patterns by industry, partner countries and trade blocks. The study also reports significant, albeit, preliminary findings on the patterns by individual Indian firms in the corporate sector. The findings indicate that prima facie the trends are indicating that the country’s dependence on import of technology is increasing, which is not congenial for enhancing its global competitiveness congenial for sustainable, mutually beneficial international trade and that this may not be in be best interest of even the developed world. The study suggests the need for developing alternative strategies for technological and managerial competence building as a key to sustainable and mutually beneficial international trade.