New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel has called upon small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt technology towards raising productivity and promoting sustainability. Addressing the inaugural session of the First FICCI Industry 4.0 Awards function and Conference here, the Minister assured the industry of government’s support and urged them to take the ‘Industry 4.0’ to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

“The adoption of Industry 4.0 is something that we have to do together. Manufacturing and exports, both have to contribute, because in the post-pandemic scenario, you all know how the supply chains have been disrupted and there is a tremendous opportunity which lies ahead for us, for the country,” said Patel.

Patel said, after the three Industrial Revolutions, we are now headed towards the 4th Industrial Revolution, - ‘Industry 4.0’, which is the trend of Automation & Data Exchange at all levels of production aimed at increasing productivity, efficiency and also addressing the issues of sustainability, climate change and host of other such relevant ideas.

Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a big vision for India @ 2047, Patel said that the government is committed towards transforming India during the Amrit Kaal, the next 25 years. “Industry also has a big contribution to make and one such contribution could be moving towards the adoption of Industry 4.0. Industry sector, in a major way, can contribute to the economic development which is both sustainable and also inclusive,” she said.

Patel said both manufacturing and exports will be India’s growth drivers during Amrit Kaal. She listed out the government’s initiatives towards facilitating manufacturing including the PLI and EODB and promoting exports by pursuing various FTAs such as the India-UAE CEPA and India-Australia ECTA.

“Today, the Government of India’s role has changed from being a regulator to a facilitator. We have given tremendous emphasis on the creation of industrial infrastructure, how much we are reducing the burden of compliances, the National Single Window (System) portal has been launched, we have jumped many positions in terms of Ease of Doing Business,” she said.

The Minister said that in just over five years India has emerged as the world’s third largest Startup ecosystem after the US and China and last month we achieved the distinction of having 100 Unicorns. “So just look at the journey of the Startups, and this Unicorn wave is still going on, it is going very strong, this boom is continuing, I don’t know how much more we have to see in this year,” she said. /BI/