Why the answer to India's export and employment worries may lie in R&D

Even if 'China plus One' offers new labour-intensive opportunities, India's trading success may lie more in value-added exports, and spending on R&D and innovation will pave the way, writes T N Ninan

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T N Ninan

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In his thoroughly engaging book (The Struggle and the Promise: Restoring India’s Potential), Naushad Forbes underlines the message that has been the focus of his monthly column in Business Standard: The importance of innovation, and research and development (R&D). Within that broader discussion, he looks specifically at how poorly India’s companies rank when it comes to R&D expenditure in relation to sales and to profits, and how much they now lag behind companies in other countries. This, despite India’s pattern of industrial development having started out as more technology- and skill-intensive than in the typical developing economy.

The book considers several reasons for this (restrictive government policy, small size of companies, etc) but seems to settle on the verdict by
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www-business-standard-com-nalsar.knimbus.com or the Business Standard newspaper

First Published: Mar 31 2023 | 7:10 PM IST

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