Page 29 - Manufacturing

Back to the new-old: West wind, East wind, or the warnings of a storm?

India has been well and truly bitten by the big-country bug, and is committed once more to import substitution-on-crutches, writes T N Ninan

Foxconn's change of heart on semiconductor factory a warning to India

Even if the government's targets for export growth are met, we will still be some distance behind smaller countries such as Vietnam

Elista to invest Rs 100 cr to set up manufacturing plant in Andhra

Electronics maker Elista on Thursday said it will invest Rs 100 crore in Andhra Pradesh to set up a manufacturing unit for Smart LED TVs, smartwatches, audio speakers, and large appliances. The company has signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to set up its second manufacturing plant in the state, the company said in a statement. Earlier, Elista had announced setting up a 1.32 lakh square feet facility in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs 250 crore in March 2023. The second plant, which is scheduled to be operational in December 2024, would help Elista's foray into the smartwatch segment. "The company is planning to generate Rs 50 crore in revenue from this category by the next financial year. This state-of-the-art plant will have a production capacity of 10 lakh smartwatches and 2 lakh speakers, and will generate an employment opportunity for around 500 people," it said. "The expansion into the smartwatches category will help Elis

Fictiv formalises investment in India as its third manufacturing hub

Digital manufacturing company Fictiv, backed by billionaire investor Bill Gates and tech-cum-manufacturing major Honeywell, on Tuesday announced the opening of its India-based headquarters in Bengaluru. After an initial launch in Pune and positive feedback from its customer base on the advantages provided by the region, the company is formalising its investment in India as its third manufacturing hub, joining its successful operations in the United States and China, Fictiv said in a statement. "India has proven to be an emerging epicentre of R&D, manufacturing talent, and supply chain excellence," said co-founder and CEO of Fictiv Dave Evans. To lead its operations in India, Fictiv has appointed Uday Shenoy as General Manager. Shenoy brings over two decades of experience to the role, including supply chain and manufacturing operational knowledge from organisations like Tata Advanced Systems Ltd., Bombardier Aerospace, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., and HCL Technologies. "As General .

Harley-Davidson likely to make bikes for global markets in India: Report

The American automaker launched its most affordable bike, X440, in partnership with Hero MotoCorp in India last week

Toy industry seeks resolution of GST anomaly, PLI scheme to boost growth

Toy manufacturers have urged the government to resolve a GST (Goods and Services Tax) anomaly and immediate roll-out of the production linked incentive scheme to boost the growth of the sector. These issues were raised by the industry during a meeting called by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on July 8 here. The meeting was attended by representatives of global and domestic toy manufacturers, retailers, associations, and government officials to discuss the opportunities in the domestic toy sector. It was chaired by DPIIT Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. Toy Association of India (TAI) Senior Vice-President and Little Genius Toys CEO Naresh Gautam, who attended the meeting, said that besides PLI and GST, the industry has urged for resumption of Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS). "PLI is the need of the hour as it would help in tapping huge business opportunities," Gautam, who has been making wooden toys for the last 32 years, said. He adde

Godrej Aerospace eyes share of GE 414 engine manufacturing, supply chain

Godrej Aerospace will be pitching to manufacture modules of the engine, a company official told Reuters during a plant visit

Govt, retailers, Indian toy makers to discuss ways to promote exports

The government will hold discussions with global retailers and domestic toy manufacturers on ways to promote toy exports from India in a meeting on Saturday, an official said. The official said that top retailers, including Hasbro, Walmart, Spinmaster, Ikea, Lego, Simba Dickie, IMC, Hamleys, Lulu, and Sanrio, have been invited for the deliberations. Representatives from Indian companies such as Microplastic, Aequs, Funskool, Playgro, Dreampalst, OK Play, Universal, and Play Shifu are also expected to participate in the meeting. "The discussions will focus on establishing India as a preferred sourcing destination, highlighting the advantages and opportunities available to international companies looking to partner with Indian manufacturers," the official added. The round-table discussion is organised by the Toy Association of India (TAI), in collaboration with Invest India and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). This event brings together key indust

Drone maker InsideFPV raises Rs 2.75 cr as seed funding to grow biz

Drone manufacturer InsideFPV has raised Rs 2.75 crore in a seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures and will utilise the amount for product development, marketing and research. InsideFPV was founded in July 2020 and is currently serving the consumer segment with ongoing trials for the defence and agriculture segments. The company said its drones are compact, robust and agile which start from Rs 2,800 onwards to cater to different use cases. "While drones are majorly used in commercial, military and agricultural applications, they are an expensive device to own. InsideFPV, with its innovative technology, aims to bridge this gap by offering one of its kind Plug and Fly FPV (First Person View) feature-rich drones to the consumers at an affordable price point," the company said. Recently, drone maker Ideaforge Technology's initial public offer was subscribed whopping 106.05 times. The company has raised Rs 567.24-crore. In 2021, Dhanuka Agritech announced an investment of R

High growth of 8-9% to be driven by manufacturing, urbanisation: Kant

High growth of 8-9 per cent could be driven by focus on manufacturing and urbanisation, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday. About 5,500 census towns need to have master planning, and sustainable urbanisation is the way forward, which is a huge opportunity to drive growth in India, he said speaking at an event for release of report titled 'The Rise of India's Middle Class'. The bulging middle class holds immense power to drive sustained economic, political and social growth in India, he said. As the number of middle class rises, he said, this will drive demand for quality healthcare, education, housing, consumer goods and many other things. The government increasingly will have to focus on education and health as well as creating job opportunities. The vision of India becoming a fully developed country by 2047 really implies that the middle class needs to be the key driver of India's growth story, he said. "Rise of the Indian middle class is also indicative of economic ...

Micron to start construction of $2.75 bn chip plant next month: Report

Micron Technology would start construction in August on a $2.75 billion chip assembly and test facility in Gujarat

The PLI scheme is beginning to make India a manufacturing powerhouse

However, the industry must remember that the PLI scheme is for five years only, and it must use these five years to make Indian manufacturing globally competitive

China's manufacturing contracted in June as export orders decreased: Survey

China's factory activity contracted for another month in June as export orders decreased, an official survey showed Friday, adding to signs an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls is cooling. A monthly purchasing managers' index issued by the national statistics agency and an industry group edged up to 49 from May's 48.8 on a 100-point scale on which readings below 50 show activity contracting. The world's second-largest economy revived following the end in December of anti-virus controls on travel and business activity. But that faded faster than expected due to lackluster consumer spending at home and weak demand for exports following interest rate hikes in the United States and Europe to cool inflation. Despite that, China's No. 2 leader, Premier Li Qiang, said this week economic growth accelerated in the April-June period from the previous quarter's 4.5% rate. Li gave no details but expressed confidence China can hit the ruling Communist Party's annual growt

Commerce ministry asks departments to consult with PLI scheme beneficiaries

The commerce and industry ministry has suggested departments, which are implementing their sector-specific production-linked incentive schemes, hold consultations with PLI beneficiary companies to understand their issues, government officials said. The suggestion was made in a workshop on the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme called by the ministry on June 27. The meeting assumed significance as the government disbursed only Rs 2,900 crore till March 2023 out of Rs 3,400 crore claims received under the scheme. The scheme was announced in 2021 for 14 sectors, such as telecommunication, white goods, textiles and pharma with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore. The departments were also asked to ensure that PLI beneficiaries complete their investments and meet production targets. "It was suggested to the line ministries now to call the PLI beneficiary companies for consultations with them only and if they flag any issue, it could be conveyed to the commerce and industry ministry so

Procter - Gamble India to invest $244 mn to set up manufacturing facility

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble India said it would invest 20 billion rupees ($243.79 million) to set up a personal healthcare manufacturing facility in the western state of Gujarat.

Aerospace suppliers see upside in parts-making from record jet orders

Rising traffic, a search for alternative sourcing to China and orders this month from Air India and IndiGo for nearly 1,000 jets combined have made India a key market for aerospace

Arkam Ventures launches second fund with a target corpus of $180 mn

Through the fund, the firm will make investments in Series A and Series B start-ups, with a focus on emerging sectors like electric vehicles and manufacturing technology

Goldi Solar investing Rs 5k cr to boost module manufacturing capacity: MD

Gujarat-based Goldi Solar is in the process of investing over Rs 5,000 crore to expand its module manufacturing capacity to 6 GW, the company's managing director Ishver Dholakiya said. At present, the company's total module manufacturing capacity is 2.5 GW, Dholakiya, who is also the founder of the company, told PTI. When asked about the company's growth plans, he replied, "We are in the process of investing over Rs 5,000 crore as part of our expansion plans to increase module manufacturing from 2.5 GW to 6 GW." The renewable energy business expansion will be channelled into auxiliary production, including aluminium frames, junction boxes, backsheet, etc, he said. The investment will be made by the year 2025, he said, adding, his company also aims to recruit over 4,500 people across various functions, which will increase its workforce to over 5,500 by FY25. "We plan to hire 25 per cent of the workforce from the local tribal regions adjoining its proposed manufacturing facility. We

PLI schemes boosting jobs and manufacturing in white goods sector

Make no mistake, PLI schemes under Make in India mission for the sector is thriving is making a deep impact on the white goods sector in India

India plans to widen range of steel grades in manufacturing incentive plan

India has already approved an investment of about 6,300 cr rupees ($770 million) over five years to make high-grade specialty steel