India Inc must adapt to ‘shifts happening in manufacturing’

If India’s march into the 21st century led by its services industry is perceived as a proud accomplishment, think again. It may not be enough to sustain the economy and provide jobs to millions of job aspirants. The country has still not caught up with the developed economies in manufacturing and has no base in electronics, observed Karun Malhotra, Representative Director, POGLI Corp Ltd, Kyoto, Japan.

“India needs to urgently establish a world-class domestic electronics industry and its associated eco-system both — to grow and attract Japanese investment,” he said and stressed the need for greater thrust and investment on research and development related projects. “Young talent pool is aplenty and there is no dearth of ideas. What ails Indian companies is “good mentoring for successful commercialisation of the idea to product.”

Malhotra is on a mission to help Indian companies add value to their business. He called on some of the corporate houses in this part of the country to impress upon them the need to dedicate resources and efforts on improving productivity to tackle the challenges of modern day manufacturing.

He told BusinessLine on the sidelines of an event organised here that Japanese companies are keen to invest in India. “While India wants FDI from Japan, they are looking for expertise. Indian companies will need to invest more on R&D and improve their efficiency standards. Only then can India become a sustainable industrial powerhouse.”

“There are pockets of excellence, but no one is getting into high value-add business. Today, products will have to be mass produced and customised for individual customer. A paradigm shift in manufacturing approach and customer service is the need of the hour.”

Sharing his observation about the manufacturing companies in India, he said “the design cycle is long, production processes outdated, not cost-effective and there is scope for improving productivity levels. Rapid prototyping will help reduce design cycle drastically, scale up final designs to production scale and aid companies provide one-of-a-kind product to customers as there will be no limits on design or make.”

The primary mission of POGLI is to support the “Make in India” and “Skill Development” initiatives of the Indian government by providing a technology ecosystem for Japanese companies wanting to establish their business in India.

There are an estimated 1,300 Japanese companies in India. This is far lower than the 12,000 Japanese companies in Taiwan or the 33,000-odd companies in China.

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