After BPO, India moving towards KPO regime
By agencies   |   Tuesday, 19 July 2005, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: After business process outsourcing (BPO), India is now poised to shift to a knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) regime. The research and development (R&D) investment in the country has seen 45 percent growth during 2002-04 at about $6.8 billion, positioning it as the third most favorable destination for R&D investment. In addition to 85 percent of the R&D carried out by the government through its research labs and PSUs, several MNCs have put up R&D centers in India. The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) with 38 labs and 80 polytechnology transfer centers has the largest R&D network in India. There are about 2000 recognized R&D institutes in India. Every year 6000 PhD’s come out from the 380 universities. There are 2.5 million graduates, which constitute only 2 percent of the population. All these make it a favorable cost-effective location for research and development. The huge talent pool, low cost and strong research infrastructure attract many MNC to set up R&D centers in India. These R&D drivers in India are beneficial to both developing and developed countries. At present India has favorable government regulations that supports the R&D as India is scheduled to adopt the IP regime formulated by the WTO in 2005. The government is also offering other financial incentives for R&D. The custom duties on clinical trial have been waived. Also, good clinical practice (GCP) guidelines were made mandatory. The government has also amended the Schedule Y of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act allowing parallel phase I clinical trials of candidate drug molecules.

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