Elucidate the relationship between globalization and new technology in a world of scarce resources, with special reference to India.
Approach · directive: “elucidate”
What it asks · Explain how globalisation spreads technology, how technology in turn stretches or strains scarce resources, and what this means for India.
The question has 3 parts — answer each
- Elucidate the two-way relationship: technology enables globalisation and globalisation diffuses technology
- Elucidate how the relationship works under resource scarcity: technology as a multiplier of scarce resources and as a source of new scarcities and competition
- With special reference to India: gains, vulnerabilities and the way forward
Open with · Globalisation carries technology across borders through trade, investment and knowledge flows, and technology in turn decides how far scarce resources can stretch.
Cover
- Diffusion: trade, foreign investment, global value chains and offshoring spread technology, as in India's IT and business-process services.
- Resource multiplier: solar and wind power, drip irrigation, digital public infrastructure, recycling and efficient logistics reduce resource use per unit of output.
- Scarcity pressures: water, energy imports, land and critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt drive competition, export controls and supply-chain shocks.
- India's position: it exports digital services, uses digital payments and space technology, and pursues Make in India, PLI and green hydrogen for self-reliance.
- Risks: technology gaps, job losses to automation, IPR costs, e-waste and environmental damage from extraction.
- Way forward: research and development, skilling, circular economy, green-technology partnerships and diversified supply chains.
Close with · Managed well, globalisation and technology can push India to more output with fewer resources; managed poorly, they deepen dependence and inequality.
Add value (verified)
- Since the exam: the Union Cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission on 4 January 2023 with an initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore. Cabinet approves National Green Hydrogen Mission — PIB, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, 4 January 2023 ↗“The initial outlay for the Mission will be Rs.19,744 crore, including an outlay of Rs.17,490 crore for the SIGHT programme, Rs.1,466 crore for pilot projects”
- Same release: the Mission targets green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 million tonnes a year by 2030, with about 125 GW of associated renewable capacity. Cabinet approves National Green Hydrogen Mission — PIB, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, 4 January 2023 ↗“Development of green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonne) per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW in the country”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2022, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 372 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
Globalisation is the integration of economies through flows of goods, capital, people and ideas; new technology is both its vehicle and its product. In a world where water, energy, land and minerals are finite, the two together decide how much output each unit of resource yields, and who controls the resources that technology itself needs.
A two-way relationship
- Technology enables globalisation: containerisation, cheap telecommunications and the internet cut transport and coordination costs so far that production can be split across global value chains.
- Globalisation diffuses technology: trade in capital goods, foreign investment, licensing, offshoring and the movement of students and skilled workers spread know-how, as India's IT and business-process services show.
Under scarcity: multiplier and magnet
- Multiplier: solar and wind power, drip irrigation, digital public infrastructure, recycling and efficient logistics extract more output from each unit of energy, water and land.
- New scarcities: the energy and digital transitions need lithium, cobalt and rare earths concentrated in a few countries, so technology turns scarcity into geopolitics through export controls and supply-chain shocks, as the 2021 semiconductor shortage showed.
- Costs: automation displaces low-skill work, intellectual property makes technology expensive to import, and extraction and e-waste damage the environment.
India's position
- Gains: India exports software and business services, runs digital payments at population scale, launches satellites at low cost and co-founded the International Solar Alliance to cut the cost of solar power.
- Vulnerabilities: it imports most of its crude oil, solar modules, electronics and critical minerals, faces water stress and land pressure, and risks a widening technology gap.
- Response: Make in India and the Production Linked Incentive scheme seek domestic manufacturing; green hydrogen is being promoted to replace imported fuel (since then, the National Green Hydrogen Mission, approved in January 2023 with an outlay of Rs 19,744 crore, targets at least 5 million tonnes a year by 2030).
Way forward
- Raise research and development spending, skill workers for automation, build a circular economy for minerals and e-waste, pursue green-technology partnerships with transfer of know-how, and diversify supply chains for chips, minerals and fuels.
Managed well, globalisation and technology let India produce more with fewer resources; managed poorly, they deepen dependence and inequality, so India must be a maker of technology and not only its market.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.