This year’s India Electronics Week (IEW) has a message to share: low-cost manufacturing is becoming a reality in India. The country currently ranks 40th out of 137 countries on the Global Competitiveness Index but has ambitions to climb up in the rankings.
The three-day event in Bangalore—the country’s high-tech manufacturing center—provided a showcase for exhibitors to display their unique low-cost additive manufacturing equipment. Organizers sought to emphasize to customers that India could be at the forefront of low-cost manufacturing—and contribute to the nation’s Make in India initiative to transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub.
“To motivate small-scale manufacturing and setting up of full-fledged R&D labs, we laid special emphasis on enrolling exhibitors who provide desktop manufacturing equipment and prototyping equipment,” said Ramesh Chopra, founder and chairman of EFY Group.
In his inaugural address, Chopra noted that the up-front cost of manufacturing setups has dropped significantly with the help of table-top machines and rapid prototyping. While rapid prototyping is already available in the country for PCB assembly, only a few state-run semiconductor manufacturers use the technology. Low-cost manufacturing machines would help private companies enter into the market and grow semiconductor manufacturing in India—which could in turn help build a strong manufacturing industry in the country.
The IEW has become one of the largest global events to promote Indian electronic industry. This year’s event was themed “Driving Technology, Innovation & Investment for Smart Products.” Industry heavyweights like Bergen, Mechtronics and Vikams—and NN Indian startups—participated in the conference, taking the opportunity to share information about the technologies that could boost quality control, deliver new product plans, and compare different iterations of products.
The Internet of Things (IoT) also featured prominently at IEW, a reflection of the rapid growth of India's IoT ecosystem. This year, the IEW was co-located with the IoTShow.in, bringing together key IoT and electronics industry players under one roof.
India is becoming an increasingly important power in high-tech manufacturing and has significant potential to see dramatic and sustained growth in its young electronics industry. In fact, the Indian government recently released its National Policy on Electronics 2019, which aims to position the country as a global hub for electronics design and manufacturing.
The world’s largest democracy is certainly working on making a name for itself in the additive manufacturing field—and events like the IEW are helping to grow India’s reputation as a global manufacturing hub.
Read more about developments in Indian manufacturing at Sasken Prepares for the Future with New Automotive Center of Excellence.