With a view to achieving techno-economic development, India has adopte
d a two-pronged approach: one relates to creating a climate for the in
digenous development of technology in the country, and the other deals
with the transfer and adaptation of technology from advanced countrie
s. The author describes the support policy and indicates various strat
egies adopted by India for the development of the technology base in t
he country, as well as a number of foreign collaborations, involving t
echnology transfer, entered into for enhancement and with a view to ac
hieving technical competence in various sectors. Further, in view of G
ATT and new economic liberalization programmes, a drastic change is se
en not only in the commercialization of indigenous R&D efforts but als
o in the import of technology. Indian industry, instead of merely impo
rting the technology, is now preferring to import the technological pr
oducts, so as not only to obtain the tried and tested technology with
a demand-marker but also to avoid payment of royalty, which is necessa
ry to contribute towards the Government's newly created technology dev
elopment fund. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd