Recent Technology Imports into India: Results of a Survey

This paper analyses the results of a survey of twenty‐four recent cases of technology imports into India. Over the last thirty years, large firms in Indian industry have come under increasing competitive pressure from small firms which pay lower wages and which are also favoured by government policy. Most small firms obtain technology through informal channels within the country. But some import technology; and larger firms import it in their defence against competition from small firms. Larger firms, with a history and a reputation, have better access to technology from abroad; smaller firms often go through an extensive search before they find a willing technology supplier. Irrespective of size, firms that import technology within their own specialization are observed to put more effort into technology choice, absorption and adaptation. Indian policies of across‐the‐board import substitution, by promoting diversification into new products developed abroad, tend to discourage specialization and hence to encourage technology imports and to work against technology absorption and innovation.