The government of India is formulating a National Policy for Advanced Manufacturing with an objective of enhancing the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 percent by 2025 from 16 percent at present. The policy will be designed in a way that India’s position as global competitor in terms of manufacturing can be advanced and also to evaluate the threat that ‘smart manufacturing’ could pose through loss of jobs.
Emphasizing the purpose of the new policy, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said that there are a lot of concerns, lot of opportunities, there are also threats particularly on jobs so how to make our policies, how to tailor our industry, how to get ready for this in a manner that the transition is seamless and our people are skilled enough, may be to relocate to other areas. Girish Shankar Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry said that the National Policy for Advanced Manufacturing which essentially is how to increase technological depth so that we become globally competitive and are not left behind. However, he pointed out that framing of the policy may take some more time because it needs a lot of consultation, and invited comments from the public.
The capital goods policy envisages invention of a national policy for advanced manufacturing and this would include advanced materials, modern manufacturing like advanced robotics and 3D printing, among others. The policy also aims to facilitate improvement in technology depth across sub-sectors, increase skill availability, ensure mandatory standards and promote growth and capacity building of MSMEs.