Abstract:
Industry plays a critical role in the development of backward areas through structural changes in the local economy and higher value addition. Governments, both at the central and state levels have been actively promoting location of industries in these "high risk" areas through a carrot and stick policy for the past twenty years. While licensing regulations force large firms to move into backward areas, there are attractive financial incentives which lure all kinds of firms to locate their operations in such areas. In the non-farm sector, these incentives have taken the forms of direct finance and creation of economic infrastructure such as industrial estate, power, water, transport and communication facilities. The underlying assumption here is that shortage of these factors has been the stumbling block of development, and once their supply is taken care of, the local economy would witness a multiplier effect of development. Implicitly, the role of technology in the accelerated development process of a region is always not appreciated. While economic factors are necessary survival inputs, technological factors are required to provide competitive inputs through better products and/or cost advantages. The ripple effect of it through direct benefits to entrepreneurs and indirect demonstration effect on the rest of the entrepreneur community and society in general cannot he underestimated. What is therefore required is offering technological support to firms located in backward areas as a parallel pillar to economic support measures. This piece of research becomes relevant in the above context. In a triangle of relationships between the entrepreneur and the technology and financial inputs, the process of acceleration of regional development depends on the quality of services available individually and synergistically. While a lot is known about entrepreneurs and economic inputs in these high risk areas, unfortunately, not much is known about the process of flow of technological inputs going into these areas. Here the attempt is to fill this void to some extent. This study covers technology applications in small scale enterprises located in selected backward areas.
