Sitharaman Urges India Inc. to Embrace Tech Wave for Manufacturing Boost
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called upon industry leaders to collaborate with emerging technologies driven by the country's startups to bolster India's manufacturing sector. Emphasizing the significant market potential in India's rapidly expanding economy, she highlighted World Economic Forum data projecting 140 million middle-income households and over 40 million high-net-worth individuals in the country by 2030.
This provides a huge opportunity for manufacturing companies as such a large market can only be found in five or six jurisdictions clubbed together and it was rare to find it in a single country. Addressing the FICCI's 96th annual general meeting, Sitharaman said that while the services sector is growing and the country has taken huge strides in the IT sector, there was a need to expand the manufacturing sector, for the nation to march ahead.
She said while there was a long recession looming in the West and exports would be affected, it was important to focus on the domestic market and go for new technology in partnership with local startups that had filed a record number of patents. The number of patents has jumped by 3 times in recent years, she pointed out. Such a partnership would benefit both industry and startups and take the nation ahead. Industry must keep a close watch on the innovations that startups are coming up with and avail of this opportunity by forging partnerships, she added.
The Finance Minister stated that the government is facilitating a technological platform and conducive environment for the ongoing innovations. Sitharaman also mentioned that several Western companies are likely to seek investments in India as a means to navigate the economic slowdown in their respective home countries. Addressing concerns about climate change, she acknowledged the potential burden on industries and assured that the government is actively working to alleviate this burden.
