Elucidate the relationship between globalization and new technology in a world of scarce resources, with…

Question

Elucidate the relationship between globalization and new technology in a world of scarce resources, with special reference to India.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Globalization and new technology reinforce each other, spreading tools and cutting costs, but on a resource-scarce planet they also create new scarcities, rebound consumption and waste. India shows both sides: UPI and solar leadership on one hand, rare-earth dependence that prompted the National Critical Mineral Mission (2025) on the other.

**Introduction**

Appadurai's "technoscapes" and Giddens's "runaway world" capture how technology and globalization drive each other. On a planet of finite minerals, water and energy, that relationship brings both efficiency and strain, especially for India.

**Globalization and Technology: A Mutual Engine**

SKETCH: flow-cycle | Globalization-Technology Loop
- Global trade, FDI
- Tech diffusion
- Lower costs
- More consumption
- Resource squeeze
- Frugal innovation

1. **Technology enables globalization**: Container shipping and the internet cut the cost of moving goods and ideas, making global value chains and India's IT exports possible.
2. **Globalization spreads technology**: FDI carried mobile telephony and electronics manufacturing to India, so Indian-assembled phones now compete worldwide.
3. **India exports technology**: UPI's links with Singapore's PayNow (2023) and acceptance in the UAE show Indian digital public infrastructure going global.

**The Scarce-Resource Dimension: Saviour and Strain**

1. **Doing more with less**: Global scale made solar cheap, India co-founded the International Solar Alliance (2015), and drip irrigation saves water.
2. **New scarcities**: Chips and batteries need lithium and rare earths; China's 2025 magnet curbs hit Indian automakers, prompting the National Critical Mineral Mission (2025).
3. **Rebound and waste**: Efficiency often raises total use (Jevons paradox), and the Global E-waste Monitor 2024 counted 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022.

**Way Forward**

1. **Circular economy**: Enforce extended producer responsibility under the E-Waste Rules 2022.
2. **Diversified supply**: Secure critical minerals through partners like the Minerals Security Partnership.
3. **Mindful use**: Mission LiFE can turn efficiency into lower demand.

**Conclusion**

Technology and globalization multiply each other, but resource limits decide whether the loop ends in abundance or depletion. India can show that technology-led globalization can also be resource-wise, in line with SDG 12.

Elucidate the relationship between globalization and new technology in a world of scarce resources, with special reference to India.

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