R&D is a critical component and it is partially missing in India’s mission to manufacture all goods indigenously, he said while speaking during a panel discussion on the way ahead for India’s hi-tech industry.
The country’s R&D investment has declined from 0.8% of GDP in 2008-09 to 0.7% of GDP in 2017-18, according to a NITI Aayog report.
Mudgal, whose company is into electronic product design and manufacturing, suggested that some tweaks in the ambitious plan would do it good.
Quoting an entrepreneur, he said, “Make in India is predominantly defined as assembled in India and sold in rupees. Is that what we want Make in India to be? As recently as 2015, we as a country were able to define IDDM (indigenous design development & manufacturing). So, one of the key components partially missing in it is indigenous design. We should own the design.”
The other panellist, Rohit Grover, CEO, Aerostrovilos, also agreed with the view. Grover went a step further and also discussed why advancements such as deeptech and hi-tech need more prodding from the investment ecosystem in India. “Many investors in India are not used to assessing startup risks like looking and understating a deeptech company. Deeptech actually requires a lot more help from academia. Premier institutes like IITs are doing well in incubation,” said Grover, whose company is an IIT Madras-based startup that manufactures micro gas turbines that can electrify heavy-duty long-haul trucks.The ET MSME Awards 2023 saw a gathering of various MSMEs, industry stakeholders, entrepreneurs, promoters and leaders. It honoured small businesses under various categories such as innovation and women entrepreneurs, among others. The ET MSME Awards is the premier event that recognises the role of MSMEs in national building. The awards programme is an initiative of ET Digital, in association with Airtel Business as technology partner, Northern Arc as the silver partner and CareEdge as the knowledge partner.
