The technical session on manufacturing in progress Punjab summit-2015 focused on reducing the cost of manufacturing, pooling research and development costs, measures to reduce the cost of inputs, skilling and retraining of existing work force to new technologies besides exploiting the emerging e-commerce platform to globally marketing the projects being manufacturing the Punjab.Mr. Karan Avtar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Industry & Commerce while presiding over the session of marketing said that Punjabi have entrepreneurship in their blood who are known for accepting challenges and succeeding in adverse circumstances. He said that Punjab has been known as breaking ground for small and medium enterprising and time have come that these enterprises should pool their research and development resources to survive in global challenges and Chinese onslaught.
Asking SME’s not to resist robotic technology, Mr. Singh said that the studies by Harward University and experiments of German government clearly indicate that the introduction of robotic technology there is increase in employment potential of skilled youth and new technology offers new vistas of employment and challenges. He said that Punjab is one of the prominent manufacturing states in the country with focus on various industries including light engineering, textiles, automotive components etc. Manufacturing sector has witnessed an increasing boom in its share of State GSDP escalating up to 20% of the GSDP in 2013-14. The State’s average index of industrial promotion growth for 2013-14 was placed at 1.8% as compared to (-)0.7% at the national level.
Emphasizing on the strength of entrepreneurial qualities of state, he said that Punjab has emerged as the leading hub for textile-based industries such as apparel manufacturing, spinning and hosiery exports. With the development of apparel parks, favorable textile policy and other incentives for the creation of textile infrastructure, the state offers multiple opportunities for investment. Further, engineering sector is a major contributor in the economy of Punjab. Over the last decade, it has grown at the rate which is more than 16% annually, and constitutes 23% of the total industrial output of Punjab.Inviting the investors to invest in manufacturing sector he said that another key strength of Punjab is its strong base of well-established Micro, Small and Medium enterprises in the state. He said that approximately 2,00,000 small scale industries which are one of the most important pillars of the industrial growth are active in the State.
Mr. Singh said that Punjab has always promoted innovation & enterprise. There is scope for development of manufacturing across the value chain including services for high end design, Prototyping, 3D Printing etc. Govt. of Punjab is keen to develop a thriving ecosystem in the state for hi-tech manufacturing and encourage the local players to invest in the modernization of manufacturing facilities to improve quality, competitiveness and value addition.
The session also discussed on the issue of building a robust manufacturing ecosystem - Strengthening vendor linkages, plug and play infrastructure and competitive industrial clusters.The delegates did a brainstorming on building a robust value chain for new age manufacturing – Industrial clusters with services for high end design, prototyping, 3D printing. Role of government in facilitating vendor to anchor linkages and knowledge collaboration was also deliberated in the session.Prominent amongst others who were spoke on the occasion Mr. Rajiv Singh, Head Automotive KPMG; Mr. Sunil Mathur, MD and CEO of Sipmens Ltd.; Mr. Sachit Jain, Executive Director Vardhman Special Steel Ltd.; Mr. Akshye Sangwan, COO Sonalika Industry; Mr. Richard Rekhy, CEO KPMG and Mr. Viren Popli, CoO Swaraj Division Mahindra & Mahindra.