Design in India' to Power Future Industries, Says Vaishnaw in Growth Roadmap Reveal

Highlights:-

• Vaishnaw urges industry to shift focus from manufacturing to designing and owning IP
• AI models will be open-source to ensure broad access and inclusive innovation
• India leads in locomotive production; all old railway coaches to be replaced in 3 years

Union IT and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has called on Indian industry leaders to prioritize local product design as a critical support of the nation’s next phase of economic expansion. Speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit in New Delhi, Vaishnaw stressed the need to change from merely manufacturing to designing and owning the intellectual property of products made in India.

He noted that India has made significant steps in the technology domain, from both software and hardware development to the production of components, finished goods, and now semiconductors. This evolution, he said, reflects a growing industry determined to establish India as a “product nation.”

Vaishnaw stated, “If we can embed design thinking across sectors, we can elevate India’s growth to the next level, and retaining IP within the country and strengthening domestic manufacturing must go hand in hand with the thriving services sector.”

Emphasizing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), Vaishnaw announced a major drive under the National AI Mission. The government will obtain an additional 14,000 GPUs, building on the earlier procurement of 18,000 GPUs. These resources are intended to accelerate the development and training of procreative AI models, including Large and Small Language Models (LLMs and SLMs).

Also Read: Noida International Airport Partners with Uber for App-Based Taxi Services

The minister highlighted the importance of making AI infrastructure and tools accessible, not controlled. “These AI models will be open source, ensuring broad access for developers and innovators,” he added.

In the railways sector, Vaishnaw revealed that India produced 1,600 locomotives last year, which exceeded the collective output of the U.S., Europe, and Japan. To meet growing infrastructure demands, all old railway coaches will be replaced within the next three years, and 103 out of 1,300 stations have already been restructured.

To foster innovation among small businesses, the Railways Ministry is preparing a new policy to be revealed in two months. This policy will allow startups and SMEs to test new technologies in sandbox environments before scaling.

Vaishnaw also quoted, “At this crucial stage, broader industry participation and new ideas are essential.”