Can India be a KPO Hub?
Posted : July 27, 2005 at 6:58 pm [IST]
Can India be the next powerhouse in science and technology? What will be the timeframe like? Will it take about 10, 15, or 20 years from now? A study conducted by brokerage CLSA predicts it to take 10 years.
Over 100 R&D facilities already set up by the multi-national companies are operating in India.
Is something symptomatic happening? Is it because the opportunities have gone better? The best brains today want to remain or return to India.
India has now over 200 national laboratories, while the manufacturing sector boasts of another 1,300 R&D units.
By ‘15, India will have about 20million students enrolled in higher learning, with 1.4million engineering students, 60,000 doctors and 50,000 PhDs.
Presently, India has over 250 universities, 1,500 research institutions and 10,000 higher education institutes with an annual intake of 10m students.
More than 5million graduates enter the workforce every year.
Every year 350,000 engineers 25,000 medical doctors and another 12,000 PhDs are added in the workforce. This number is three to five times higher than the situation 10 years ago.
The US usually produces 75,000 engineers, 25,000 doctors and about 40,000 PhDs in all disciplines.
Do these figure put India on par with the US, Germany and Japan? Let us know about our neighbors too. China in comparison produces 1-2m graduates a year and Singapore 35,000.
The companies are no more shying from filing for patents. As per CSLA, in ‘03 alone, nine technology start-ups have filed for patents.
A good number of listed companies can today liberally fund their R&D wings. The R&D spend of BSE 500 companies have risen 600% over the last 10 years.
The research and development (R&D) investment in India had 45% growth during 2002-04 at about $ 6.8 billion, and is the third most favorable destination for R&D investment.
The government through its research labs and PSUs carries out 85% of the R&D. The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) with 38 labs and 80 poly-technology transfer centres has the largest R&D network in India.
But several MNCs have put up R&D centres in India and many projects are in pipeline.
The huge talent pool, low cost and strong research infrastructures are the attractions for these MNCs to set up R&D centres in India. The government is also offering other financial incentives for R&D.
History is in our favour.
With consistent efforts of the intellectual class and policy support from the government, India has all the potentials to become a KPO hub
- Indra
Category: IRS in US '05 |
Leave a Comment