India’s readiness for industry 4.0

Abstract

Industry 4.0 is there to stay. It has just started shaping up the world around us. Like any new technology, Industry 4.0 poses both threats and opportunities for any company (for that matter any country). We have laid out 6 dimensions using which we can understand India’s readiness for Industry 4.0. Also, when we take into account the opportunities and challenges, we feel that India is not ready for Industry 4.0 when it comes to manufacturing. There are multiple reasons for it: lack of trained personnel, lack of technology (we don’t have core technology firms inventing stuff), lack of sufficient capital and infrastructure etc. At the same time, India has been more services oriented than manufacturing. At the same time we have understood that India has done significant progress in Industry 4.0 services11 . India can potentially become an Industry 4.0 behemoth provided Indian government works with Indian firms (like German government does) to create an ecosystem that fosters innovation and collaboration, improves education system and invests in improving infrastructure.