After cementing its position in electronics manufacturing, the government now wants to promote additive manufacturing or 3D printing in the country, aiming for a 5% share of the global market with a target to add nearly $1 billion to the GDP by 2025.
While launching the national strategy on additive manufacturing, electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “This is the cutting edge, this is where the world is still moving forward and this is the time to take the lead and time to make the right moves.”
He further said a pilot on additive manufacturing is currently going on and going forward, this should become a major export item.
The government is targeting 50 India specific technologies to be developed on 3D printing, 100 new start-ups, 500 products, 10 existing and new manufacturing sectors and creation of one lakh new skilled manpower.
As part of the strategy, the government would address key sector specific technical challenges for making 3D printing economically viable for MSMEs.
Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing is a niche segment. Global spending on AM in 2019 was nearly $13.8 billion with a growth of 23.5% per annum and expected to reach $34.8 billion by 2024.
As part of the strategy paper, it has been recommended that a dedicated agency may be constituted to spearhead the national initiative for positioning India at the forefront of development and adoptive of AM technologies through PPP model.
There should be development of requisite AM standards and protocols for India through active participation in relevant global forums and extensive public-private consultations with academia, R&D institutions and industry experts.
Further, the national strategy should address the need for skilled manpower in various job profiles including operators, engineers, R&D personnel, technology broking and management.
The government’s financial support and private funding would be needed to promote domestic AM ecosystem and supply chains.