Making India the Manufacturing Skills Capital of the World

INDIA IS NO LONGER JUST ADAPTING TO GLOBAL MANUFACTURING TRENDS-IT IS ENGINEERING THE SKILL BLUEPRINT THAT OTHERS MAY FOLLOW.

- SHIVESH PRATAP

India stands at the cusp of a historic transformation. As the nation envisions itself as a global manufacturing powerhouse by 2047, the centenary of its independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has laid a robust policy and institutional framework to harness the twin engines of Industry-Academia collaboration and skilling innovation. In the age of Industry 4.0 and beyond, the success of “Viksit Bharat @2047” depends on how well we integrate knowledge, innovation, and human capital.

India’s ambition to emerge as a global manufacturing powerhouse is challenged not by the lack of opportunities, but by the lack of job-ready talent. Today, India produces over 1.5 million engineers annually, but as multiple reports suggest, quantity alone is not the metric that will define India's global competitiveness. The World Bank's 2024 India Skills Report observed that only 46% of graduates are considered employable in emerging sectors like Al, robotics, clean tech, and Industry 4.0, pointing to a need for curriculum overhaul, experiential learning, and interdisciplinary thinking.