India emerging as most favoured manufacturing destination, says President Murmu

Inaugurating the silver jubilee edition of the three-day International Engineering and Technology Fair (IETF), organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Droupadi Murmu, President of India, said the engineering sector of India today is a “robust, multi-level, diversified segment of India’s industry, playing a critical role in driving growth, creating jobs, and boosting exports”. 

Hailing the manufacturing sector, Murmu said India has been emerging as the most favoured destination from highly sophisticated areas like defence and aerospace to others like manufacturing of mobile phones. She added that policies adopted in the recent past have given a fillip to unprecedented inclusive growth, and that the nation has significant potential to engage with the international market.

India’s commitment to clean energy has been driving its green growth, which has been internationally appreciated.

Murmu noted that technology is going to change the way we live, adding that we should strive to use technology to bring positive social change. The importance of technology in healthcare cannot be overestimated; focus on this area will be a priority in the coming years, she said.

Promoting manufacturing is a priority for the government and there is a need to strengthen India's technical capabilities and R&D to achieve our growth aspirations, said Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Heavy Industries.

“The Smart and Advanced Manufacturing and Rapid Transformation Hubs (SAMARTH Udyog) are creating a conducive environment for digital transformation, growth, and skill development in the manufacturing Industry and SMEs,” he added.

Asserting that the speedy growth of the nation in the recent past has been a result of enabling policies, the minister said work is being done to promote Industry 4.0. Dr Pandey also underlined the need for skilling the Indian workforce in new technologies like design modelling, product prototype, smart manufacturing. and said his ministry is working with skill councils to train more than 70,000 people in the next three years.

CII President Designate R Dinesh said India has achieved 10 billion square feet of registered green building space, noting that this is the second largest green building footprint in the world. The Indian Green Building Council, led by CII, has played a main role in taking India to this position, and CII is committed to competitiveness and sustainability of Indian industry, he said. 

Finland is the focus country at the IETF this year and over 400 companies from 19 countries are displaying their latest products and technologies at the IETF. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said IETF presents huge opportunities to foreign companies to partner with the great Indian growth story and is a great platform for global brands and companies to enter India.

IETF is being held from February 16 to 18 in New Delhi, in collaboration with Finland Chamber of Commerce in India, NSIC, and government ministries.