IPR integral part of flagship Indian projects

Houston, Feb 26: India's "robust" IPR regime is an integral part of flagship projects like Make in India and Digital India which is encouraging foreign companies to invest and establish their manufacturing, R&D and outsourcing bases in the country, a senior Indian diplomat said.

In a keynote address hosted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with Texas A&M University School of Law, Consul General Harish Parvathaneni gave an overview of the Indian economy, recent changes affecting the legal and business ecosystem and flagship schemes of the government for business and investors.

The Intellectual Property Rights regime is an integral part of the flagship projects of the Government of India such as Make in India and Digital India, encouraging foreign companies to invest and establish their manufacturing, R&D and outsourcing bases in India, he said.

India has a robust IPR regime covering different kinds of such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights, said Parvathaneni.

Stressing on India's compliance with World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the Consul General highlighted India's strong engagement with the US and partner countries on IPR.

He said that the Draft National IPR Policy has been released and discussions have taken place with all stakeholders regarding Government of India's pro-active role in leveraging the strengths of the IPR regime for effective development and transfer of technology, promoting creative industries, stimulating innovations and empowering local communities in securing benefits from their knowledge base.

The topic, "India: The recent changes affecting legal and business ecosystem" also featured Mani Iyer, President &CEO, Mahindra North America & Chairman, CII-India Business Forum and Kapil Sharma, Vice President- Government & Public Affairs, Wipro.

Sharma provided an insight into Wipro's operations in the US as well as extensive community outreach done by the Azim Premji Foundation especially in the education sector.

Iyer gave a presentation of Mahindra North America's ethics, operations and corporate social responsibility activities in the US. He also highlighted that India is the 8th largest source of FDI into the United States and Texas being the number one receiver of Indian FDI.

PTI