Manufacturers told to focus on value addition, design-led innovation, tech ownership

HYDERABAD The need for India to move beyond manufacturing scale towards greater domestic value addition, design-led innovation, technology ownership and globally competitive manufacturing ecosystems was emphasised by speakers at a CII conference on advanced manufacturing here on Wednesday. Addressing the inaugural session, Special Chief Secretary to the State government Navin Mittal highlighted the significant opportunities emerging at the intersection of advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, energy storage, electric mobility, and data centres.

“We are literally standing at the threshold of major revolutions in the energy sector,” he said. Mr. Mittal emphasised the need to strengthen domestic manufacturing across the solar value chain, develop energy-storage capabilities and leverage AI, IoT, digital twins and robotics to improve operational efficiency, CII said in a release. Chairman of CII Special Taskforce on Advanced Manufacturing Rahul Garg emphasised on the growing role of AI, robotics, Industrial IoT and digital twins in enhancing productivity, product quality and export competitiveness.

Founder and Chairman of Cyient B.V.R. Mohan Reddy said India’s next manufacturing phase must focus on technology ownership and design-led innovation rather than production scale alone. Micron India Managing Director Anand Ramamurthy spoke on the importance of leapfrogging technology, strengthening infrastructure, creating predictable policy frameworks and developing specialised talent to attract and scale advanced manufacturing in India.

CII Telangana Chairman M. Goutham Reddy said advanced manufacturing should be sustainability focused.