Union Budget 2020: Strong manufacturing policy needed

By Rishi Bhatnagar

India needs a strong domestic manufacturing policy for boosting ease of doing business and incentivize big businesses to invest in Indian start-ups and SME’s. While the government has given due importance in terms of facilitating foreign investments in India, this outlook needs due diligence to promote more local innovations under the ‘Make in India’ campaign. According to research by Accenture, emerging technologies like IoT & AI could add a whopping $957 billion to the Indian economy by changing the nature of work to create better outcomes for businesses and society.

While the pace of technology adoption has become faster in India, sectors like in healthcare and agriculture continues to remain one of the most demanding sectors in the country. Though the government has made an investment of Rs 2 Lakh crores towards Agriculture and Healthcare infrastructure. However, I believe that the government will also plan to utilise these funds for automation and mechanisation leveraging technological advancement to bring in the much-desired mass reach of healthcare services while reducing waste and achieving higher productivity in the field of agriculture.

(Rishi Bhatnagar is the President of Aeris Communications)