We have been hearing about Make in India from Govt. for a long time but never have the intent been more obvious as seen in the updated public procurement policy released on 04th June 2020 released by Ministry of Industry & Commerce available here
One of the policy change is that if the lowest bidder L1 is not a local manufacturer then L1 will be given 50% of the order and the lowest bidder amongst local manufacturers will be given an opportunity to match the price L1 to take remaining 50% of the order.
But how can you “Make in India” if we do not Design & Develop in India, in short R&D has to be carried out in India. So we have a great opportunity to create an ecosystem in India whereby we create indigenous technologies and then manufacture for India and global markets.
One can already see movement in the manufacturing of high-end mobile phones in India and the move to make medical devices in India at a much lower cost than importing the same.
The latest example is the Govt. of India giving new orders to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for producing sophisticated aircraft for Indian Air Force (IAF) in a sign of indigenous manufacturing of defence technologies.
These examples are not limited to larger companies or Govt. enterprises but SMEs who are now aiming to challenge China’s supremacy in sophisticated technology areas such as flexible electronics which is the future with applications such as folding mobile phones recently showcased by Samsung.
All this will provide a great boost to R&D in India as also Industry-Academia partnership and an opportunity to develop products for the world.
For companies looking at structuring their R&D operations or providing it with necessary focus is to get the R&D facility certified by Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) which is the sole authority to grant certification to organisations with R&D activities in India.
The certification not only recognises the effort of one’s company focused on R&D but also provides tax benefits and access to Govt. funding and benefit while bidding for tenders.
It is time to think of technology holistically with the involvement of senior management which is a must to make any R&D effort successful.
It is time to prove that India can be the ‘intellectual capital of the world’ for which we have to start designing, developing and making in India.
Keywords: Make in India, DSIR, flexible electronics, intellectual capital, technology