Author: Nandakumar Janardhanan
Energy Review, Vol 4. Issue 3. 2022
Japan’s PM Fumio Kishida and Indian PM Narendra Modi signed multiple bilateral agreements on the occasion of the former’s recent visit to India. Greater emphasis has been laid on collaboration on clean energy, climate mitigation and sustainable development goals. All these demand stronger engagement on the technology front. However, conventional technology transfers are unlikely to make any notable impact in transition. This points to the fact that there need to be innovative solutions for technology collaboration.
Instead of relying on the conventional technology transfer modes, Japan and India should prioritise co-innovation- a collaborative and iterative approach to jointly conceptualise, manufacture and scale up clean technologies. Co-innovation will help customise an imported technology suit the recipient country better, by integrating local knowledge, by understanding customer demands, and by utilising the local production facilities and labour force. This also offers benefits to the technology provider- Japan- to get greater access to the Indian market which is fast growing.
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