India Rolls Out National Strategy to Create 3D Printing Ecosystem

New Delhi, India – The Government of India (GoI) has released a national strategy for Additive Manufacturing (commonly known as 3D Printing) to encourage collaboration between academia, government, and industry with the goal of making India a global hub for design, development, and deployment of 3D printing, according to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Outlining the strategy’s outcomes at the launch, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, explained, “We have taken some very clearly defined goals in this strategy. We are targeting 50 India specific technologies, 100 new startups, 500 products, 10 existing and new manufacturing sectors, and 1 lakh new skilled manpower. We hope additive manufacturing becomes a major export item in the coming years.”

MeitY asserts that the strategy was developed after significant collaboration with industry leaders and subject matter experts. As MeitY Secretary Ajay Sawhney, pointed out, the segment is still wide open at this moment. Without an effort to establish indigenous strength, materials, printers, and design will continue to come from outside, resulting in the country paying significant sums of royalties to foreign firms. “If we are able to build design capability in this segment, it will fetch royalty repeatedly,” he continued.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State, MeitY, called this document a ‘leap into a very important strategic area,’ highlighting the significance of a national strategy, and arguing that India has fallen behind in high-precision manufacturing. Stating that this is a precise document that focuses on specific goals such as fostering local entrepreneurship, technology, and intellectual property in 3D Printing, he underscored, “But we are at the same stage as the rest of the world in this sector. Additive manufacturing plays to the strengths that India has, which is software, electronics, ESDM, and artificial intelligence (AI).”

Industry has praised the government for taking the sector seriously and fostering local growth and design in order to make it self-sufficient. Swapnil Sansare, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Divide by Zero Technologies, a Mumbai-based 3D printing manufacturer, said, “Right now, 80-85 percent of the equipment utilized in 3D printing machines and materials is imported. Growth will only happen if we start making it here. If the government puts effort into supporting the manufacturing of local 3D Printing machines and materials, the adoption rate will dramatically improve.”

As per a top industry executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the launch of the strategy is a significant milestone that represents the government’s thought process. He did, however, warn that this is merely a strategy and not a scheme, and that it just demonstrates the government’s intent. “Now we’ll work on how it can be adopted, what are the challenges, and what more input is required. It will create a new industry for capital equipment. Once we’ve figured that out, then we’ll get back to the government and discuss what incentive schemes are required,” he added.

One of the strategy’s objectives is to strengthen India’s position in the global 3D manufacturing landscape—to acquire a 5 percent market share and contribute almost $1 billion to GDP by 2025. According to Statista, a market research agency, the global 3D Printing products, and services market was valued at $12.6 billion in 2020 and is predicted to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17 percent between 2020-23.

Image Source: Magic Wand Media

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