India has unveiled an ambitious plan to make manufacturing the cornerstone of its economic growth, aiming to have the sector contribute more than 25 percent of the country’s GDP and create over 100 million jobs by 2035.
This bold vision was presented as NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub launched its comprehensive roadmap, “Reimagining Manufacturing: India’s Roadmap to Global Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing.”
The roadmap outlines a sector-focused path to harness frontier technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Advanced Materials, Digital Twins, and Robotics, to boost India’s manufacturing competitiveness across 13 priority sectors. The plan envisions India emerging as one of the world’s top three advanced manufacturing hubs by 2035, marking a significant milestone toward the government’s “Viksit Bharat @ 2047” agenda.
The unveiling ceremony was attended by key leaders, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, State Minister Madhuri Misal, Chief Economic Adviser Praveen Pardeshi, CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee, and other distinguished dignitaries.
To overcome barriers that currently limit India’s manufacturing competitiveness, the strategy calls for coordinated efforts to strengthen research and development ecosystems, industrial infrastructure, workforce skills, and the scaled adoption of new technologies.
The 10-year strategic roadmap provides a detailed framework for sector-specific interventions focused on making India a global manufacturing powerhouse.
The roadmap also warns that missing this historic opportunity could result in a loss of US$270 billion in manufacturing GDP by 2035 and as much as US$1 trillion by 2047 if India fails to adopt key frontier technologies across high-impact sectors.
Chief Minister Fadnavis stressed Maharashtra’s commitment to aligning with the National Mission on Manufacturing, stating, “If India has to achieve exponential growth, it cannot come from business-as-usual. Frontier Tech is the marriage of science and technology, and when this union enters manufacturing, it drives automation, efficiency, and global competitiveness. Maharashtra will be the first State to fully align with the National Mission on Manufacturing and become the global hub for advanced manufacturing.”
Echoing the urgency, NITI Aayog CEO Subrahmanyam said, “India’s economic ascent inextricably hinges on the strength of our manufacturing sector, but incremental change will not suffice. This roadmap sets a decisive, time-bound course to become an Advanced Manufacturing Powerhouse by 2035; integrating frontier technologies to build precision, resilience, and sustainability into our manufacturing DNA, creating a globally competitive ‘Made in India’ identity.”
Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow at NITI Aayog, reinforced the message: “Frontier technologies must modernise the very backbone of our economy—manufacturing. The window to act is narrow, and transformation demands reimagining the entire ecosystem. By embedding technology into our industrial DNA, we can lift manufacturing’s GDP share to 25% by 2035, generate millions of high-quality jobs, and ensure our factories become symbols of innovation and national strength.”
The roadmap was developed by NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub in partnership with CII and Deloitte, with guidance from an expert council of industry leaders. The launch event drew strong participation from government officials, industry members, and ecosystem partners, signalling a collective commitment to advancing India’s leadership in manufacturing.