At a CII roundtable in Vadodara, industry leaders urged for technology adoption, including automation and AI, to tackle India's low productivity. They also highlighted labour shortages and the need to support MSMEs with skills and finance.
Call for Technology to Boost Productivity
Milan Nag, Deputy Chairman of CII Western Region, noted that industries must pivot towards technological adoption. He was speaking on the sidelines of a media roundtable organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here.
"What is in our hands is to improve our productivity, improve our productivity through many different methods. Chinese productivity is several times higher than ours, as is of many countries in the world. Our productivity is very low," Nag told ANI.
"So we should look at methods including automation, robotics, Industry 4.0, AI, and harness every possible method to improve the output per person," he added.
Addressing Labour Shortages
The panel members discussed digital adoption and investment growth, focusing heavily on modernizing business operations and tackling structural labour issues.
Nag said there was mention of a shortage of labour as some migrant labourers had returned to their native states. "This is being faced in all the industrial states where there is more migrant labour. There were elections in Assam, in Bengal, and there were elections in Bihar as well (earlier)," he said.
Nag explained that labourers left for state elections and delayed their return to spend time with families. The situation continued due to supply concerns triggered by West Asia crisis, he added.
Focus on Empowering MSMEs
Gaurang Joshipura, Chairman of CII Central Gujarat Zone, said there was thrust on "skill to scale" to assist Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
"We are focused on broad-based MSMEs because MSMEs are our large-scale members. What we have seen is that MSMEs have many problems, but two of the major problems are the skilled manpower, especially the blue-collar and finances," Joshipura said.
He said various companies and institutes have skill development centres and they are coordinating with them.
"We are bringing various financial institutes as well as on the risk management insurance, these experts and conducting programmes which will help MSMEs to either safeguard themselves or get the finances," Joshipura added.
Joshipura noted that the chamber organized competitive frameworks and specialized programmes covering manufacturing excellence, ESG compliance, AI, and Power BI to elevate operational standards.
Regarding broader macroeconomic targets, he maintained that local consumption indicators suggest long-term resilience despite external disruptions. (ANI)
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