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Patents office to be shored up; Rs 30 billion FDI to flow into mining

The government is taking steps to modernise the patents system in the country, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

Industry Minister Sikander Bakht said steps are underway to modernise and strengthen the patent office through a plan which would provide the required qualified personnel and infrastructural facilities.

Optimisation of available resources through reorientation of functions between offices, computerisation of procedures and elimination of backlog of patent applications was also receiving attention, Bakht assured the House.

The Rajya Sabha was also filled in about foreign investment in the mining sector. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has so far approved 48 proposals for foreign direct investment, aggregating about Rs 30 billion from 18 countries.

The minister concerned, Ramesh Bais, said the government has not selected any particular state for foreign direct investment. The investor is free to invest in any state after obtaining prospecting mining licence from the state government concerned. The main states selected by foreign investors are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, he said in a written answer.

UNI