By: Pankaj Sharma
From setting the foundation of industrialization in the 1950s and 1960s to the license permit based manufacturing between 1965 to 1980. And then the catalytic change brought in by the liberalisation of the 1990s and the current scale of the Indian manufacturing sector that contributes over 17% of our GDP employing over 28 million workers. India has surely come a long way in creating a robust manufacturing sector that cannot only serve the needs of India but can also become the manufacturing hub for the rest of the world.
In today’s age of modernization and technology led markets. Manufacturing sector holds the key for a country to maintain its technology independence while reducing its dependencies on import driven supply chains.
In the current geopolitical scenario India is shaping up as the preferred manufacturing hub for the world. Major technology giants such as Apple, Boeing and others are increasing their investments in India recognising India’s capability to churn out world class manufacturing products through its manufacturing proves.
Apart from becoming the manufacturing hub for the world, more and more Indian companies are scaling their manufacturing within India. This is a critical step in India’s journey towards attaining its economic freedom and empowering a large part of it’s citizens to play an active role in the manufacturing sector.
One such sector where manufacturing would play a major role is the revolution that we are observing in the electric vehicle and stationary storage space. India is aiming to achieve 30% of its vehicles to become electric by 2030 and has committed to establishing 500 Gigawatt of renewable energy by 2030. These are bold numbers for a developing country such as India, however the current adoption numbers are indicating that India is on track of achieving such ambitious goals while propelling its industries and GDP growth that it is targeting.
India today imports its entire inventory of lithium ion cells from foreign countries and also today India has a large dependency on imported electronic components especially in microprocessors and silica chips. With the advent of indigenously developed electric vehicles and stationary storage systems India is looking at revolutionising its manufacturing sector by establishing localized lithium ion cell manufacturing within this country. India has also taken major steps in establishing semiconductor fab manufacturing so that in near future India can indigenously produce the chips and wafers that are the building blocks of microprocessors and other critical electronic components. These major advancement in India’s manufacturing goals is an indicator that India is moving up in its value chain in the manufacturing sector.
With more and more domestic players scaling up their manufacturing plants and setting up Tier one and Tier 2 suppliers of materials and components that are being used by other industries. India is aiming to attain supply chain independence and is gearing up to create an ecosystem where the Indian manufacturing sector can largely rely on domestically produced components to make the final product. A country that has minimum dependency on import based supply chain has a better chance to achieve its economic independence and remove its dependency on foreign imports.
The other major advantage that India has over some of the other neighbouring countries is the foreign trade agreements that India has signed with other countries. India practically has an opportunity to become the manufacturing hub for the global South and for the developed economies also. Backed up by the largest democratic system, a vibrant talent pool of engineers and manufacturing experts and a big domestic market. India has the opportunity to not only become the manufacturing hub for the world but also become an export driven economy where a lot of indigenously developed products that are designed for the Indian market can find their way to other export markets.
In 1947 when India attained its independence it would have looked a long shot to bring a country at the brink of becoming a global dominant manufacturing country. However India had systematically invested into building its fundamental manufacturing capabilities ranging from steel, cement, pharmaceuticals to automobiles. Today the manufacturing sector is contributing to over 470 billion dollars of forex for the country and it is an indicator that with the right policy framework combined with Indian entrepreneurial spirit India is on track of attaining its economic and technological freedom.
The author is Co-Founder and Director at Log9 Materials
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the original author. These views and opinions do not represent those of The Indian Express Group or its employees.
