India's manufacturing sector is embarking on a fresh chapter. With global supply chains now focusing on resilience, engineering depth, and reliability instead of just cost, India can seize the opportunity to transition from mass production and assembly to cultivating enhanced skills in component manufacturing, precision engineering, design, testing, and advanced engineering. This change could greatly benefit MSMEs, as a more robust domestic supplier network allows smaller companies to connect with global markets and gain more value from India's growing manufacturing sector. In this conversation with ET Digital, BN Shukla, Managing Director, Jabil India, discusses what it will take to make India an engineering-led manufacturing hub, the role MSMEs can play in building the missing component ecosystem, and the skills, technology and supplier capabilities needed to compete globally. Edited excerpts:
Economic Times (ET): India’s electronics manufacturing story has so far been driven largely by scale and assembly. What will it take for the country to genuinely move up the value chain into engineering-led manufacturing and innovation ownership?
