Indian manufacturing industry has come a long way since independence from foundational stage in 1950s and 60s to liberalization in 1990s to finally becoming globally competitive in the 21st century. According to an industrial development report released by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), India is the only lower middle income country that secured its place in the second group of leading economies in this field. Other countries in the same group are Australia, Canada, Italy, Singapore, and Spain.
The study named ‘Industrializing in Digital Age’ tried to assess the development and application of Advanced Digital Production (ADP) technologies or Industry 4.0 technologies. The feat can be attributed to the new innovations being patented by Indian research centers and companies in markets across the globe. The country has in fact reached the level where it is now embedding the industry 4.0 technologies in smart machines being exported.
India is today the 5th largest manufacturing country in the world, as per CII (Confederation of India Industries). With initiatives like Make In India, the government has tried to galvanize the manufacturing sector, encouraging more and more players to don the manufacturer’s cap.However, the set of goal of increasing the contribution of manufacturing to GDP to 25 percent by 2022 does not seem to be achievable with the current pace and a lot needs to be done in this direction.
