India has undergone a significant transformation under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Launched to make the country self-sufficient, it focuses on reducing India’s import dependency. Therefore, to achieve this purpose, the initiative has been supported by various government schemes and incentives to bolster the country’s indigenous manufacturing prospects.
The products made following thorough R&D and the utilisation of advanced technologies invariably helped in the curation of quality, competent, and high-value products. This played a crucial role in driving consumer behaviour with an emphasis on quality at an affordable price. Along with this, giving the desired boost to startups and MSMEs immensely contributed to the growth of the manufacturing sector at an exponential rate.
In the process of meeting domestic demand, the country strengthened its position in the international market and is making great strides to become the manufacturing powerhouse across the world. Delving into the subject, as per the ICEA report, mobile production rapidly increased from Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to an estimated market of Rs 4,10,000 crore in FY24. Clocking an increase in output of approx. Two thousand per cent, it enhanced the mobile export of the country, rising from Rs 1,556 crore in 2014-15 to an estimated Rs 1,20,000 crore in 2024. Progressing along a similar line, the other sectors, such as aerospace, renewable energy, biotechnology, and many more, are also showing promising trends and proliferating under the scheme.
As an outcome of the initiative, India has been rising to prominence worldwide concerning the automobile sector. Where on the one hand, the sector has been attracting FDI, with international players keen on setting up their manufacturing base in India to serve the purpose of catering to the global market; on the other hand, even the country has been preparing to take a giant leap in the export of electric vehicles. In the pursuit of achieving the export, it is expected that over the next 4-5 years, the EV export will contribute approximately 25-30 per cent of the overall vehicles shipped from the country. In addition to this, the pharma industry is also expanding at a phenomenal rate. The Indian pharma industry supplies drugs to more than 200 countries across the globe. Gaining the recognition of ‘Pharmacy of the World,’ the country is the largest supplier of generic medicines globally at an affordable price.
Cumulatively, the Indian manufacturing landscape has evolved significantly. Where ‘Make in India’ was aimed at meeting the country’s domestic demand without relying on imports from foreign countries, with time, the initiative empowered the country to emerge as a global manufacturing powerhouse. As per the report by IBEF, in the year 2023, the manufacturing sector clocked the highest ever export, reaching US$447.46 billion, surpassing the export record of FY 22, which stood at US$422 billion.
The country has come a long way in its journey, achieving some phenomenal milestones in the process. Additionally, as part of the initiative, India is emerging as the major supplier of products to foreign countries. This, in turn, underscores the importance of strengthening the country’s manufacturing infrastructure to fortify its position in the international market. Resilient infrastructure serves the dual purpose of manufacturing the highest-quality products conforming to international standards while amplifying mass production to meet domestic and global demand.
Here, the manufacturers need to understand that in order to make strong inroads in the international market, they need to focus on minimising the fault claims to drive customer satisfaction. Here, taking the example of the EV industry, the vehicle catching fire is the primary deterrent impeding the growth of the industry. Therefore, to ensure the safety of the vehicle, manufacturing superior quality Li-ion batteries should be prioritised to curb the explosion cases in the vehicle while contributing to the unrivaled performance of the EV at the same time. Here, moisture being the major element giving rise to inferior quality batteries, deploying desiccant dehumidification technology throughout the battery cell manufacturing process enables the production of highly resilient and reliable batteries.
Along with this, to penetrate deeper into the market, the manufacturing sector should be agile enough to embrace customisation to be at par with the changing trends of the various industries. Aimed at optimising the output of the various industries, it bodes well for scaling the production to meet the surging demand of the market. With industries adopting sustainability with alacrity, tailoring the dehumidification technology to comply with energy-efficient solutions is instrumental in minimising energy consumption during battery manufacturing. The ability to save 30% to 60% of energy utilisation consequently translates to a reduction in the overall cost of the electric vehicle.
In the pharma industry, with India emerging as a major player in the international market, there is a constant need to scale the manufacturing of the highest quality drugs. Here, customising the dehumidification technology to the specific needs of the industry can empower the growth and drive the efficacy of the sector. It plays a crucial role in producing superior drugs with the help of quality air solutions. At the same time, the upgrade to energy-efficient dehumidification can immensely help curb the production cost of medicines.
In addition, the industry should be at the forefront of adopting Industry 4.0 with alacrity. Promoting smart manufacturing, advanced technologies such as AI, ML, IoT, robotics, etc., fortify the infrastructure of the manufacturing sector, driving the supremacy of Indian products in the international market. The role of advanced technologies transcends automation tasks. It upgrades the manufacturing process with the help of remote handling that allows troubleshooting, operation, and monitoring of the processes from faraway locations. Apart from this, it comes with the ability to exercise predictive maintenance, which augurs well for identifying and controlling the damage in advance, to strengthen the manufacturing endeavors of the country further.
