The Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) in Bangalore recently made headlines for organizing a webinar titled “Expert Talks from Samarth Udyog Centres”. This initiative was part of the SAMARTH Udyog Bharat 4.0 Platform celebrations for the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. The main aim of the webinar was to discuss indigenous technology developments and potential collaborations in the area of Smart Manufacturing & Industry 4.0.
Providing ‘Technology Solutions’ to the manufacturing sector and aiding technological growth in the country, CMTI operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
About SAMARTH-Udyog Bharat 4.0
Smart Advanced Manufacturing and Rapid Transformation Hub (SAMARTH) -Udyog Bharat 4.0 is an initiative by the Department of Heavy Industry. This initiative falls under its scheme geared towards boosting competitiveness in the Indian Capital Goods Sector. The scheme, which was introduced in 2014, aims to stimulate technology development and infrastructural creation.
CMTI’s Step Towards Industry 4.0
To propagate and support the adoption of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing practices, CMTI established the Smart Manufacturing Demo & Development Cell (SMDDC). This facility acts as a Common Engineering Facility Centre (CEFC), catering to the rapidly growing Indian manufacturing industry.
Understanding Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 signifies the fourth industrial revolution, characterised by the cyber-physical transformation of manufacturing. It encompasses automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies, including cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing, culminating in the creation of smart factories.
Benefits and Challenges of Industrial Revolution 4.0
Industry 4.0 offers several benefits including enhanced productivity, efficiency, and process quality, providing safer working conditions by reducing jobs in dangerous environments, aiding decision-making through data-based tools, and improving competitiveness by developing customised products.
However, it also presents challenges such as a technical skills gap, concerns over data sensitivity, lack of innovation due to interoperability issues, security threats from vulnerabilities, and handling the growth of data.
India’s Current Potential
India currently has the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem and is the largest exporter of generic pharmaceuticals. However, in car exports, it doesn’t feature among the top 15. The manufacturing sector in India contributes approximately 17% to the GDP, while the services sector accounts for over 65%.
Government Initiatives for Industry 4.0
In a bid to leverage Industry 4.0, India has launched several initiatives. In 2018, the World Economic Forum set up its Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in India. The National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog interacts with the WEF to develop new policy frameworks for emerging technologies.
Samarth Udyog Bharat 4.0 aims to provide technological solutions to Indian manufacturing units by 2025. The Government of India has already initiated an enabling policy framework and incentives for infrastructure development on a PPP model. Efforts are ongoing to increase manufacturing’s share of GDP to 25%. Other initiatives include Make in India, setting up of manufacturing clusters, financial sector reforms, tax reforms, incentivizing R&D, large infrastructure development projects, power sector reforms, and strengthening corporate governance.
The Future of Industry 4.0 in India
Adopting smart manufacturing, analytics and IoT can revolutionise industrialisation in India. Despite hurdles in policy implementation, the main bottleneck is the lack of skilled labour or fear of job losses due to robotics and automation. A smart strategy to overcome this issue is to upskill workers in these fields to create more jobs.
