Role of Innovations...

- Mr. Nandkishor Kagliwal
President, MEDC

Innovations and innovative approach towards business are two separate things. Whilst innovative approach towards business helps us in increasing our profits, innovations involve a lot of time, energy and money. Innovative approach towards business ought to start from the top. When the government becomes innovative in their approach towards business, the businessmen reciprocate. There use to be a time when the government was not so open. It was only a select few who got the licenses and the quotas and the rest felt really deprived. Now the government has realized that unless it takes an open-minded approach and encourages businesses to grow, the country will not move further at a desired pace. Innovations on the other hand take years and years of hard work and lot of money has to be spent to achieve even a minor breakthrough.

We have been working on developing a vaccine for aids for several years now and we do not know whether there is light at the end of the tunnel. Solar energy is the best form of energy but we have yet to obtain success to make it economical. Fuel-cells technology may be a real alternative to the energy crisis but it is still not a commercially viable proposition. These are innovations which may or may not happen. India’s innovative approach towards business in general and certain sectors which get us more foreign exchange in particular, has yielded results. However, a lot more incentives need to be given for encouraging innovations. Taxes are meant for the benefit of the people and innovations help the people directly. So if expenditure for innovation and the allied research are exempted from taxes, then a lot of encouragement will be given for this purpose. With view to highlight this issue we have selected this topic for our cover story. By the time the ‘Economic Digest’ reaches you the budget would be out. We hope that it is innovative and encourages innovation. The Finance Minister may do well to announce special schemes for innovations and for investment towards innovation and exempt these schemes completely from the levy of taxes.