India is moving towards becoming a hub of global manufacturing: Heavy industry minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said due to several factors, India may have missed being a part of earlier industrial revolutions. But, India has the potential to lead Industry 4.0. He said that the fourth industrial revolution is as much about new technology as it is about innovative thinking.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said due to several factors, India may have missed being a part of earlier industrial revolutions. But, India has the potential to lead Industry 4.0. He said that the fourth industrial revolution is as much about new technology as it is about innovative thinking. "...India has the potential to lead Industry 4.0 because for the first time in recent history, we have many different factors like demography, demand and decisive governance coming together," Joint Secretary of the ministry of heavy industries Vijay Mittal read out the Prime Minister's message at a conference on 'Industry 4.0: Challenges Ahead' organised at Kevadia in Gujarat.

In the note, Modi said that the industry and entrepreneurs play a key role in making India a vital link in global value chains. "We have worked on reforms and incentives to make India a tech-powered manufacturing hub of the world," he added. Speaking at the event, Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said that the government was taking a series of steps to boost manufacturing through Industrial Revolution 4.0.

"India is moving towards becoming a hub of global manufacturing. 3D printing, machine learning, data analytics and IoT (Internet of India) are the keys to promote industrial growth," Pandey said. Pandey added that the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery storage would help India to cut down its imports and become an exporter in the coming years. "Companies selected under the scheme will receive incentives under Rs18,100 crore-programme to boost local battery cell production."

The government approved the PLI scheme for the national programme on ACC battery storage for achieving manufacturing capacity of 50 Giga Watt Hour (GWh). The minister also flagged off 75 electric buses for Gujarat and 100 electric buses for Karnataka. Pandey also virtually inaugurated a centre for Industry 4.0 (C4i4) Lab in Pune. He said that India has set the target to release 7,000 electric buses and added 3,800 buses are on the road, while the rest will also hit the road as per schedule.

The Centre is providing 40 per cent subsidy for electric buses to states. Minister said the government has identified 22,000 petrol pumps across the country to install charging facilities for electric vehicles (EVs). Participating virtually, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said that the auto sector will greatly benefit from Industrial Revolution 4.0. He added that the production and promotion of EVs will help in reducing carbon footprint. (ANI)

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