PROBIZ International - Vol-1 Probiz File final | Page 9

Innovation in Manufacturing R&D is must to achieve ‘New India’ T he manufacturing sector needs to increase its investment in Research and Development (R&D), if it wants to achieve Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of ‘New India’”, said Dr. H Purushotham, CMD, National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. He was addressing the Manufacturing Innovation Conclave 2018 (MIC2018), organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at New Delhi. Dr. Purushotham emphasised that while in developed countries, the contribution of private sector to R&D is around 70 percent and the rest 30 percent comes from the government, in India, it is the government that contributes more than 70 percent on R&D. While detailing NRDC’s forte and core expertise, Dr. Purushotham highlighted that the government is focused on encouraging innovation, provided that the ideas are fresh and have competitive advantages. In his keynote address, Dr. Raghupati Singhania, CMD, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. said, “With technological advancement, adequate education and training are vital for continuation of innovation and growth. Through manufacturing innovation, we can accelerate our efforts in advancing expertise among the incumbent workforce, creating countless growth opportunities in the industry.” He further said, “Though the fundamental of manufacturing will remain constant, the time has arrived where we need to innovate the way we execute those fundamentals. We must incorporate the 4 M’s of manufacturing i.e. Material, Manpower, Machine and Method with innovative technologies.” Mr. Sameer Gupta, Deputy Chairman, CII (Northern Region) & Chairman & MD, Jakson Group, emphasized in his address that innovation is the key driving force in realisation of the Make in India mission. He quoted the Hon’ble Prime Minister where he had said that “If innovation does not happen, stagnation happens.” He further emphasised on CII’s role in promoting innovation and said, “CII through its 9 centres of excellence, is continuously promoting start-ups and technology-driven enterprises with innovative ideas.” Dr. Rishi Bhatnagar, Conclave Co-Chairman & President, Aeris Communications India, in his opening remarks, said, “Developing a strong innovation culture is vital for both our nation and industry today. The Product and Process Innovation have been transforming manufacturing for decades. However, in future, the Manufacturing sector will experience more technology driven advances with breakthrough work in spheres such as nanotechnology, ‘connected’ assets with IoT, AI, machine learning, advanced analytics and additive manufacturing. Indian companies with an innovative edge will have a strong competitive advantage.” Mr. Rajeev Singh, Partner, Deloitte India, in his theme address, said that India has great potential to become one of the global leaders in manufacturing sector, however, it will have to first build innovation in the its DNA and for coming out with innovative ideas, investment in R&D is a must. A CII-Deloitte report titled ‘Building Manufacturing, Building India’ was also released during the Manufacturing Innovation Conclave 2018. The conclave was attended by delegates from the manufacturing sector including industrialists, technology companies, consultants, academia and other stakeholders. August 2018 9