Context:
The NITI Aayog has released a roadmap titled “Reimagining Manufacturing: India’s Roadmap to Global Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing”, developed jointly with CII and Deloitte, outlining a 10-year strategy to transform India’s manufacturing sector into a frontier technology-enabled, globally competitive ecosystem.
Key Objectives:
- Increase Manufacturing’s GDP Share: From 15–17% to 25% by 2035.
- Job Creation: Generate over 100 million jobs.
- Global Leadership: Position India among the top three hubs for advanced manufacturing by 2035.
- Alignment with Viksit Bharat 2047: Strategic milestone for long-term industrial growth.
Challenges Identified:
- Infrastructure Gaps: Industrial corridors lack sufficient facilities.
- Skilled Talent Shortage: Limited availability of high-tech workforce.
- Low R&D Investment: Insufficient innovation funding relative to global peers.
- Fragmented Supply Chains: Limits scale, efficiency, and global competitiveness.
- Technology Adoption: Slow integration of advanced technologies on shop floors.
Proposed Interventions:
- Intellectual Property (IP) Reforms:
- Streamlined approval mechanisms for modern technology applications in manufacturing.
- Promote cost-effective access to green and reliable energy.
- Frontier Technology Enablement:
- Focus areas: Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning, Robotics, Digital Twins, and Advanced Materials.
- Encourage pilot-to-scale transitions through sustained funding from government and industry.
- Support shared R&D and testing infrastructure to reduce individual capex burdens.
- Collaborative Innovation:
- Promotion of joint industry-academia initiatives.
- Facilitate cluster-focused technology deployment to enhance competitiveness.
- Skilling and Capacity Building:
- Develop a future-ready workforce through large-scale, modular, cluster-aligned programs.
- Position advanced manufacturing as a strategic priority under the National Manufacturing Mission.
- Institutional Support:
- Establish the Global Frontier Technology Institute as a centre of excellence for advanced manufacturing research and innovation.
Phase 1 (FY2026–FY2028) Focus:
- Launch strategic interventions to promote advanced manufacturing adoption.
- Build skilling programs and technology diffusion frameworks.
- Set up infrastructure and funding mechanisms to accelerate technology absorption and deployment.
