NRDC chief’s call to step up investment in R&D for attaining PM’s ‘New India’ vision
It is heartening to note that as per the recent Global Innovation Index (GII), India has been ranked the 57th most innovation nation in the world as compared to the 81st rank in 2015. It clearly proves that greater importance is being attached to innovation, particularly in the manufacturing sector which is primarily driven by the automotive industry. It is against this backdrop that CII organised Manufacturing Innovation Conclave 2018 (MIC2018) in New Delhi with the record number of participants.
Delivering his special address at the Conclave, Dr. H. Purushotham, CMD, National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, said the manufacturing sector has to necessarily increase its investment in Research and Development (R&D) if it wants to achieve the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘New India’.
He also emphasised that while in developed countries the contribution of the private sector to R&D is around 70 per cent and the rest 30 per cent comes from the Government, in India it is the Government that contributes more than 70 per cent on R&D. While detailing NRDC’s forte and core expertise, he highlighted that the Government is focused on encouraging innovations, provided the ideas are fresh and have competitive advantages.
In his keynote address, Dr. Raghupati Singhania, CMD, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd., said: “With technology advancement, adequate education and training is 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. Though the fundamentals of manufacturing will remain constant, the time has come when we need to innovate the way we execute those fundamentals. We must incorporate the 4 Ms of manufacturing, i.e., Material, Manpower, Machine and Method with innovative technologies.”
Mr. Sameer Gupta, Deputy Chairman, CII (Northern Region), and Chairman & MD, Jakson Group, in his welcome address, mentioned that innovation is the key driving force in realisation of the ‘Make in India’ mission. He quoted the Prime Minister when he had said that “If innovation does not happen, stagnation happens.” He further emphasised 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 innovation 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 its DNA and for coming out with innovative ideas, investment in R&D is a must.
Mr. Dilip Sawhney, Managing Director, Rockwell Automation India, observed that the ‘Connected Enterprise’ is facilitating the Digital Manufacturing Transformations in the form of higher manufacturing velocity, more agile responses, driving higher levels of productivity & competitiveness.
Mr. Sanjeev Deshpande, MD & CEO, itelligence India, said: “Manufacturing is being transformed by Innovation in many different areas such as sophistication and automation in machine tools, efficient cutting tools, connected machines and networks, automation and efficiency in supply chains, intelligent shop floor systems and advanced execution systems, high efficient and optimized planning and scheduling systems and intelligent ERP systems, etc.”
A CII-Deloitte report titled ‘Building Manufacturing, Building India’ was also released on the occasion.