India is preparing to strengthen its capabilities in advanced manufacturing technologies through a coordinated national strategy following detailed deliberations at the 29th meeting of the Prime Minister’s Science Technology and Innovation Advisory Council.
The meeting, chaired by Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, was held at Kartavya Bhawan 3 in New Delhi and focused on building a stronger ecosystem for advanced manufacturing systems in the country.
Members of the advisory council present at the meeting included A S Kiran Kumar, Madhuri Kanitkar, Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, Subhash Kak, Baba Kalyani and V K Saraswat. The discussions brought together government officials, industry leaders, scientists and academic experts to examine the future direction of advanced manufacturing technologies in India.
Other senior participants included Parvinder Maini, S Krishnan, Abhay Karandikar, N Kalaiselvi, Ajit Mohanty, Samir V Kamat, V Narayanan, Sanjay Garg, Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, Mohini Kelkar, P G Jadeja and Ravi Raghavan.
Opening the discussions, Ajay Kumar Sood emphasised that manufacturing remains central to economic growth, industrial competitiveness and strategic autonomy. He noted that advanced manufacturing systems such as high precision machine tools, computer numerical control systems, robotics, additive manufacturing technologies and testing and metrology infrastructure form the foundation of modern industrial production and Industry 4.0.
He said strengthening domestic capabilities in these technologies is essential for improving global competitiveness and reducing technological dependence. The meeting aimed to provide strategic guidance for enabling India to move from being primarily an importer of advanced manufacturing technologies to becoming a designer, developer and producer of such systems.
V K Saraswat highlighted the transformation of engineering and manufacturing through digital engineering tools including product lifecycle management platforms, digital design technologies and multidisciplinary design optimisation systems. He observed that India’s adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies such as connected machines, robotics and digital simulation platforms has progressed more slowly than required and that the country continues to depend heavily on imported platforms and technologies.
He emphasised the need to build domestic expertise in manufacturing technologies, algorithms, platforms and equipment, while strengthening collaboration between academia, research institutions and industry to accelerate indigenous innovation.
Rakesh Kaur outlined the broader strategic context for the discussions, highlighting the importance of indigenous advanced manufacturing systems in light of changing geopolitical conditions and evolving technology policies. She emphasised the need to strengthen the national manufacturing ecosystem by leveraging India’s expanding innovation network, skilled workforce and technological capabilities.
Vijay Mittal highlighted the strategic significance of the machine tools sector, noting its wide downstream impact on manufacturing output and economic growth. Referring to recent consultations with industry stakeholders at the Central Manufacturing Technology Institute, he said the current moment presents an opportunity for a major national intervention in advanced manufacturing systems.
He said earlier initiatives under capital goods schemes had delivered progress but that a larger integrated programme at the national level would now be required. He also indicated that the Ministry of Heavy Industries is prepared to collaborate with industry, research institutions and other ministries to develop a comprehensive national initiative.
A detailed presentation on advanced manufacturing systems was delivered by Nagahanumaiah of the Central Manufacturing Technology Institute in Bengaluru. The presentation highlighted India’s continued reliance on imports for critical machine tool subsystems, specialised high precision machinery, robotics components and additive manufacturing equipment and materials.
The presentation emphasised the need for indigenous technology development along with stronger testing, validation and certification infrastructure. It also proposed a mission oriented programme with clear targets for localisation, robotics adoption and domestic value addition.
Three thematic technical sessions explored key areas of advanced manufacturing. The first session focused on CNC machine tool control systems, specialised machines and testing and metrology infrastructure, with presentations by Ramesh Babu and Deepak Joglekar.
The second session addressed industrial robotics and automation and featured presentations by B Gurumoorthy and Sameer Gandhi.
The third session focused on advanced additive manufacturing technologies including three dimensional and four dimensional printing, with presentations by K P Karunakaran and Anil Kumar Vesangi.
The discussions highlighted the need for indigenous development of critical manufacturing technologies, stronger translational research and development, shared national testing and certification infrastructure, specialised skill development programmes and deeper industry academia partnerships.
Participants also emphasised the need for coordinated action across ministries, research organisations and industry to accelerate the commercial deployment of advanced manufacturing technologies.
A proposal was also discussed for creating a national database or digital portal to map capabilities, infrastructure, technologies and expertise available across the country to support collaboration and innovation in manufacturing.
Summarising the deliberations, Parvinder Maini said the discussions reflected a strong national consensus on the need to move beyond prototype level capability towards large scale commercial deployment of advanced manufacturing technologies.
She highlighted the need for world class testing and certification facilities, shared national infrastructure, indigenous computer aided design and manufacturing software tools and effective use of financial instruments such as research development and innovation funding mechanisms.
In his concluding remarks, Ajay Kumar Sood said India already possesses substantial technological strengths across research institutions, industry and strategic sectors but these capabilities remain fragmented.
He said the next step would be to consolidate these strengths through a coherent national mission on advanced manufacturing systems led by the Ministry of Heavy Industries with participation from relevant government departments, research institutions and industry.
He suggested that stakeholders prepare a detailed action plan within the next three months outlining priorities, institutional structures and funding requirements for the proposed national mission.
